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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN   CONSTANTINOPLE 

AND 
RECOLLECTIONS  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 


CHRISTOPHER   R.    ROBERT 


FIFTY  YEARS 
IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

AND   RECOLLECTIONS  OF 
ROBERT  COLLEGE 

BY 

GEORGE  WASHBURN,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Commander  of  the  Princely  Order  of  St.  Alexander  (Bulgaria) 
Grand  Officer  of  the  National  Order  oj  Civil  Merit  (Bulgaria) 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

1909 


COPYRIGHT,    1909,   BY   GEORGE   WASHBURN 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

Published  October  iqoq 


DK 


r 


PREFACE 

This  book  has  been  written  at  the  request  of 
many  friends  of  Robert  College.  It  embodies  a 
history  of  the  College  from  its  foundation  to  the 
close  of  its  fortieth  year,  1903.  I  have  chosen  to 
make  it  a  record  of  personal  recollections,  because 
this  seemed  to  be  the  only  way  in  which  I  could 
write  freely  of  events  and  personalities  as  they  ap- 
peared to  me  at  the  time,  without  compromising 
the  present  administration  of  the  College  or  mak- 
ing it  responsible  in  any  way  for  my  opinions  or 
actions. 

It  has  been  my  purpose  to  make  it  as  far  as  pos- 
sible a  history  of  the  College,  but  the  picture  of  a 
college  in  Constantinople  during  these  years  could 
not  be  drawn  without  a  background  of  incidents, 
personalities  and  events,  such  as  would  have  no 
place  in  the  story  of  a  college  in  America.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  did  not  seem  wise  to  make  the  back- 
ground more  attractive  than  the  picture,  or  even 
to  set  the  latter  in  the  frame  of  a  detailed  history 
of  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  Introduction  is  a  re- 
view of  the  events  of  the  last  fifty  years  which  have 
led  to  the  recent  revolution  in  Constantinople. 


j4 

1S2G004 


CONTENTS 

Introduction xv 

CHAPTER  I 

The  Founding  of  Robert  College 

Mr.  Robert  interested  in  founding  a  College  in  Constantinople  —  The 
Messrs.  Dwight  —  Dr.  Hamlin  invited  to  join  Mr.  Robert  —  Purchase 
of  a  site  —  The  Trustees  of  the  College  incorporated  in  New  York  — 
Opposition  of  the  Turkish  government  —  Mr.  Morgan  and  Admiral 
Farragut  have  apart  in  securing  an  Imperial  Charter 1 

CHAPTER  n 

The  Opening  of  the  College  at  Bebec 

Name  of  the  College  —  Religious  status  —  Language  —  Course  of 
study  —  Resignation  of  the  two  professors  —  Cholera  epidemic  —  New 
tutors  —  Beneficiaries  —  Syrian  Protestant  College  founded  at  Beirut  — 
Lycee  of  Galata  Serai  —  Erection  of  building  at  Hissar  —  Dr.  Hamlin 
and  Mr.  Robert 14 

CHAPTER  in 

Last  Ta\'o  Years  at  Bebec.    1869-1871 

Dr.  Hamlin  devoted  to  building  at  Hissar  —  The  Bulgarians  in  the 
College  —  Visit  of  Professors  Park,  Smith,  and  Hitchcock  —  Self- 
suppoit  —  Visit  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  —  Visit  of  General  Sheridan 

—  Typhoid  epidemic  —  Removal  of  the  College  to  Roumeli  Hissar   .     .    33 

CHAPTER  IV 

Ninth  College  Year.    1871-1872 

Dr.  Hamlin  leaves  for  America  —  Tlie  fall  of  French  influence  in  Turkey 

—  Cholera  epidemic  —  Purchase  of  additional  land  —  Achmet  Vefik 
Pasha  —  Visits  of  Professor  North,  General  Sherman,  and  Lieutenant 
Grant  —  Corporal  punishment — I  am  appointed  Director  of  the  College 

—  Failure  of  Dr.  Hamlin  to  raise  money  in  America  —  Greological  work      51 

vii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 

Development  of  the  College.    1872-1873 

Enlargement  of  the  College  —  Appointment  of  Dr.  Long  and  IVIr.  Gros- 
venor  as  professors  and  Mr.  Djedjizian  as  adjunct  professor  —  A  tem- 
porary study  hall  built  —  Racial  conflict  —  Our  Turkish  neighbors  — 
Cricket  matches  with  English  naval  officers  —  Visit  of  Mr.  Bancroft  the 
historian  —  Why  no  senior  class 64 

CHAPTER  VI 

Religious  Questions.    1873-1874 

Religious  work  of  the  College  —  Question  raised  by  the  Armenians  — 
Correspondence  on  the  subject  —  Attacks  on  the  College  in  the  news- 
papers —  Great  snow-storm  —  New  apparatus 76 

CHAPTER  Vn 

Visit  of  Mr.  Robert.    1874-1875 

Political  excitement  —  I  visit  Bulgaria  —  Seditious  movements  —  Mr. 
Robert  spends  six  weeks  at  the  College  —  Horace  Maynard  appointed 
American  Minister  —  Course  of  study  —  Excess  of  linguistic  work  .     .    89 

CHAPTER  Vin 

Political  Crisis  in  Turret.     1875-1876 

How  the  crisis  affected  the  College  —  Massacre  of  Christians  in  Bul- 
garia —  Deposition  and  death  of  Abd-ul-Aziz  —  Deposition  of  Murad 
—  Abd-ul-Hamid  Sultan  —  War  with  Servia  and  Montenegro  —  How 
the  Bulgarian  massacres  were  made  known  to  the  world  —  IVIidhat 
Pasha  and  Sir  Henry  EUiot  —  Visit  of  Dr.  Coe  —  Arrival  of  American 
war-ships 100 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  Russo-Turkish  War.    1876-1877 

The  European  Conference  —  Lord  Salisbury  —  The  first  Turkish  Par- 
liament—  War  with  Russia  —  The  "Vandalia"  —  Fall  of  Midhat 
Pasha  —  Sir  Henry  Layard  —  Question  of  closing  the  College  —  The 

Greek  Department 115 

viii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  X 

The  Russians  at  San  Stefano.    1877-1878 

Mr.  PanaretoflF  appointed  professor  —  The  Russians  at  San  Stefano  — 
General  Skobelell'  —  The  English  fleet  at  Constantinople  —  The  treaty 
of  San  Stefano  —  The  treaty  of  Berlin  —  Dr.  Long  acting  President  of 
the  College  —  Dr.  Ilamhu  at  Bangor 127 

CHAPTER  XI 

Mr.  Robert's  Death.    1878-1879 

What  he  left  to  the  College  —  I  am  appointed  President  —  Mr.  van 
Milhngen  appointed  jjrofessor  —  First  catalogue  of  the  College  —  Rt. 
Hon.  W.  E.  Forster  and  Matthew  Arnold  —  An  attempt  to  raise  money 
in  America  for  an  Armenian  University  in  Constantinople  —  Bulgaria 
adopts  a  Constitution  and  chooses  a  Prince 137 

CHAPTER  Xn 

After  the  War.    1879-1880 

Trip  around  the  Black  Sea  in  U.  S.  Corvette  "Wyoming"  —  Inner  Hfe 
of  the  College  —  Our  relations  with  Bulgaria  and  Eastern  Roumelia  — 
Special  mission  of  Mr.  Goshen  —  Insecurity  in  Constantinople  —  Mur- 
der of  the  College  steward  —  Dr.  Hamlin  invited  to  return  to  Con- 
stantinople   149 

CHAPTER  Xm 

'J^vo  Years  in  America.    1880-1882 

Political  situation  in  Turkey  and  Bulgaria  —  Prince  Alexander  — 
Commencement  exercises  —  My  work  in  America 158 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  College  at  the  End  of  Twenty  Years.    1882-1884 

Mr.  Bryce  —  Lord  Granville  and  the  Egyptian  question  —  General 
Lew  Wallace  and  his  relation  to  the  same  question  —  Lord  DuflFerin  — 
"The  Teaching  of  the  Aj)ostlcs"  —  Russia  and  Bulgaria  —  Condition 

of  the  College  —  Professor  Ehou 168 

ix 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XV 

The  Great  Crisis  in  Bulgaria.    1884-1886 

Dr.  Long  visits  America  —  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  spend  two  months  in 
Bulgaria  —  The  Philippopolis  revolution  —  Edwin  Pears  —  Sir  William 
White  and  Mr.  Nelidoff  —  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  British  Ambassador 

—  Samuel  S.  Cox,  American  Minister 179 

CHAPTER  XVI 

The  Overthrow  of  Prince  Alexander.     1886-1888 

Russia  secures  the  kidnapping  and  dethronement  of  Prince  Alexander  — 
Mr.  Stambouloff  —  Prince  Ferdinand  —  Enlargement  of  the  College  — 
Visit  of  Rev.  Dr.  Arthur  Brooks  —  Mr.  Oscar  Straus,  American  Minister 

—  Visit  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  S.  Kennedy  and  Mr.  Walter  of  The  Lon- 
don Times  —  Founder's  Day 189 

CHAPTER  XVII 

Armenian  and  Bulgarian  Troubles.    1888-1890 

Appointment  of  Professor  Anderson  —  Armenian  troubles  —  Russian 
intrigues  in  Bulgaria  —  New  buildings  projected  —  Professor  Grosve- 
nor  resigns  —  Demoralizing  influence  of  political  agitations     .     .     .     .199 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

Another  Two  Years  in  America.    1889-1891 

Raising  money  for  new  buildings  —  Mr.  Stead  on  Robert  College  — 
Winter  in  Florida  —  Mr.  Blaine  and  a  treaty  with  Turkey  —  Meeting  o£ 
the  American  Board  at  Minneapolis  —  Various  experiences  in  soliciting 
money 208 

CHAPTER  XIX 

Improvements  in  the  College.   1890-1892 

Kennedy  Lodge  erected  for  President's  house  —  The  Censorship  —  Mr. 
Chamberlain  —  Death  of  Sir  William  White  —  Sir  Philip  Currie, 
British  Ambassador  —  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  —  Parlia- 
ment of  Religions  —  Question  of  elective  courses  —  Completion  of  new 
Science  Hall  —  Mr.  Ormiston  appointed  professor 217 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XX 

Trying  Times  in  Turkey.    189'2-1894 

A.  W.  Terrell,  of  Texus,  American  Minister  —  The  Grand  Vizier  on 
Robert  College  —  Death  of  wife  of  Professor  van  Millingen  —  Im- 
provement of  courses  of  study  —  ParUamentof  Relif^ions  at  Chicago  — 
Serious  earthtjuake  at  Constantinople  —  Miss  Hart  appointed  matron  .  iid 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.    1894-1896 

Massacres  of  Armenians  —  The  first  Constantinople  massacre  —  What 
England  failed  to  do  —  Visit  of  Prince  Ferdinand  and  of  Bishop  Potter 
—  Assassination  of  a  Greek  student  —  Beneficiaries 235 


CHAPTER  XXII 

The  Great  Constantinople  Massacre.    1896-1897 

Anxiety  at  the  College  —  Turkish  troops  come  at  midnight  —  Sir 
Michael  Herbert  —  Winter  in  Egypt  —  War  with  Greece  —  The  Powers 
occupy  Crete 245 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

Further  Development  of  the  College.    1897-1899 

The  new  Board  of  Trustees  take  measures  to  enlarge  the  College  — 
Miss  Stokes  and  Theodorus  Hall  —  Legacies  —  President  Angell, 
American  Minister  —  Sir  Nicholas  O'Conor  —  The  Spanish  war  — 
Athletic  Club  —  Water  supply  —  Lord  Rosebery  —  Sir  William  Ram- 
say on  Robert  College 254 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Death  of  Dr.  Hamlin.    1899-1901 

Important  action  by  Trustees  —  Missionary  Conference  at  New  York  — 
Mr.  Lybyer  appointed  professor  —  Sudden  death  of  Dr.  Hamlin  — 
Bulgaria  at  Paris  Exhibition  —  Mr.  Lloyd  Griscom,  American  Charge 
d'Affaires  —  Letters  of  the  Greek  Patriarch 264 

xi 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXV 

New  Professors  and  New  Buildings.     1901-1902 

Death  of  Dr.  Long  —  Macedonia  —  Capture  of  Miss  Stone  —  Assassi- 
nation of  President  McKinley  —  Two  hundred  and  fifty  American  visit- 
ors —  Appointment  of  Mr.  W.  S.  Murray,  Mr.  G.  S.  Murray,  Dr.  C.  W. 
Ottley,  and  Dr.  George  L.  Manning  as  professors  —  Turkish  and  Ger- 
man departments  —  Theodorus  Hall  occupied 275 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

My  Resignation  of  the  Presidency.    1902-1903 

President  Roosevelt  and  Secretary  Hay  —  Mr.  Leishman  settles  impor- 
tant questions  with  the  Turkish  Government  —  Troubles  in  Macedonia 
—  The  Dodge  Gymnasium  and  professors'  houses  —  Visit  of  Dr.  Coe  — 
Gifts  to  the  College  —  My  resignation  and  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
C.  F.  Gates,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  as  President 284 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

The  Work  of  Forty  Years.    1863-1903 293 

APPENDIX 

A.  Number  and  Nationality  of  Students  and  Graduates  each  year     .  305 

B.  Receipts  from  Students,  and  Expenses  at  Constantinople,  each  year  307 

C.  The  Faculty  of  the  College,  forty-fifth  year,  1907-1908   ....  308 
Z).  Former  Members  of  the  Faculty 309 

E.  Former  American  Tutors 309 

F.  Mr.  Robert's  Requirements  for  Tutors 311 

G.  Summary  of  the  Report  of  the  Treasurer  of  Robert  College  for  1909    312 

Index 313 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Christopher  R.  Robert Frontispiece 

Cyrus  Hamlin        .        .  30 

George  Washburn 58 

Hamlin  Hall  in  1873 72 

Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz 104 

Sultan  Abd-ul-Hamid 116 

Albert  L.  Long       . 158 

Prince  Alexander  of  Bulgaria 18-i 

King  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria 240 

Panorama  of  Robert  College 294 

Graduates  and  their  Wives,  Sofia,  1904    .         .        .      300 


INTRODUCTION 

Constantinople  has  long  been  the  queen  city 
of  Europe.  It  has  been  an  imperial  city  for  sixteen 
hundred  years;  once  the  chief  city  of  Christendom, 
the  centre  of  Christian  missions,  but  since  1453  the 
capital  of  the  Turkish  Empire  and  of  the  Moham- 
medan world  ;  for  centuries  the  one  defense  of 
Europe  against  the  advance  of  the  Moslem  hordes 
of  Arabia  ;  for  three  centuries  the  terror  of  the 
Christian  world;  during  the  last  century  the  chief 
battle-ground  of  European  diplomacy  over  the  East- 
ern Question. 

\Mien  I  first  knew  it,  in  J8.5fi,4t-was  no  longer 
the  city  of  Suleiman  the  Magnificent,  or  of  Mah- 
moud  II,  the  great  reformer,  who  first  undertook 
to  check  the  progress  of  decay  and  save  the  empire 
by  introducing  something  of  European  civilization. 
His  son,  Abd-ul-Medjid,  owed  his  throne  to  the 
intervention  of  the  European  powers,  and  they 
used  their  influence,  under  the  inspiration  and  di- 
rection of  Lord  Stratford,  the  English  ambassador, 
to  europeanize  the  government  still  further.  This 
period  of  reform  under  outside  influence  ended  with 
the  Crimean  War,  and  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1856, 
when  Turkey  was  formally  recognized  as  one  of 
the  family  of  European  States  and  her  integrity 
guaranteed  by  treaty.  Great  changes  had  taken 
place  in  the  empire.  It  had  been  consolidated  and 
the  government  centralized.  Much  that  was  pictur- 

XV 


INTRODUCTION 

esque  in  Constantinople  in  the  costumes  of  the 
people  had  disappeared;  the  Janissaries  had  been 
massacred;  the  turban  had  given  place  to  the  red 
fez ;  but,  after  all,  it  was  an  Asiatic  and  not  a  Euro- 
pean city.  The  Turk  himself  was  unchanged.  The 
Sultan  was  an  irresponsible  autocrat,  as  his  ances- 
tors had  always  been.  The  Turks  generally  were 
as  ignorant  and  uncivilized  as  when  they  came 
from  Central  Asia  in  the  thirteenth  century.  There 
were  schools  of  theology,  but  otherwise  education 
was  unknown.  The  highest  officials  were  often 
unable  to  read  or  write  their  own  language.  Still, 
there  were  great  men  among  them,  and  one  could 
not  meet  the  humblest  Turk  without  realizing  that 
he  belonged  to  the  ruling  race. 

For  a  few  years  after  the  Crimean  War,  Constan- 
tinople probably  enjoyed  more  freedom  than  ever 
before,  and  more  than  most  of  the  capitals  of  Eu- 
rope at  that  time.  The  government  was  weak,  but 
feared  nothing  from  the  people,  and  left  them  very 
much  to  themselves.  As  the  people  of  Constanti- 
nople were  theoretically  the  guests  of  the  Sultan, 
there  was  no  conscription  for  the  army  and  very 
few  taxes  of  any  kind.  There  was  but  little  crime 
among  the  natives,  and  the  police  did  not  interfere 
with  their  private  life.  There  was  great  freedom 
of  speech,  anything  might  be  discussed  in  the  ba- 
zaars or  the  coffee-shops,  and  as  the  Turks  had 
not  begun  to  read  newspapers,  there  were  no  laws 
to  limit  the  freedom  of  the  press.  There  are  no 
class  distinctions  among  the  Turks.  Every  Turk 
belongs  to  the  ruling  class  and  may  aspire  to  the 
highest  offices  in  the  government.    There  was  no- 

xvi 


INTRODUCTION 

thing  to  interfere  with  their  individucal  liberty  so 
lono"  as  they  observed  the  conventionalities  of  their 
Faith. 

There  was  a  restfulness  in  life  in  Constantinople 
in  those  days  which  was  refreshing  to  an  Ameri- 
can. No  Turk  was  ever  in  a  hurry.  Time  was  of 
no  account.  If  a  Turk  moved,  it  was  with  deliber- 
ation and  dignity.  If  he  smoked,  it  was  a  tchibouk 
or  a  nargileh,  and  it  was  the  business  of  the  hour. 
No  modern  improvements  had  come  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  city  and  complicate  the  simple  life 
of  the  people.  A  few  small  steamers  had  begun  to 
ply  on  the  Bosphorus,  but  it  was  still  picturesque 
with  thousands  of  graceful  caiques  and  hundreds 
of  sailing  craft.  I  remember  one  day  when  more 
than  a  thousand  ships  passed  up  the  Bosphorus.  I 
counted  more  than  three  hundred  in  sight  at  once, 
all  under  full  sail. 

All  this  has  passed  away.  The  Constantinople 
of  fifty  years  ago  will  never  be  seen  again.  It  is 
still  an  Asiatic  city,  still  wonderfully  beautiful, 
still  the  place  of  all  others  where  I  would  choose 
to  live,  so  long  as  I  could  enjoy  the  exceptional 
privileges  of  ex- territoriality  secured  to  foreigners 
by  the  capitulations.  For  the  subjects  of  the  Sultan, 
the  easy-going,  happy-go-lucky  government  of  fifty 
years  ago  was  an  era  of  relative  liberty  and  comfort, 
which  they  have  since  learned  to  regret. 

But  it  was  in  those  days  that  a  few  young  Turks 
first  woke  up  to  a  sense  of  their  ignorance  and 
the  need  of  education.  They  founded  a  society 
and  started  a  periodical  to  promote  the  progress  of 
knowledge  among  their  people.  They  used  to  come 


XVll 


INTRODUCTION 

to  the  American  missionaries  for  aid  and  counsel. 
It  was  a  new  thing  for  the  Turks,  and  the  feeble 
beginning  of  the  movement  which  has  revolution- 
ized the  government.  In  later  years  one  of  these 
young  men  was  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  for 
the  empire. 

In  1861  the  reign  of  the  weak  but  well-intentioned 
Abd-ul-Medjid  came  to  an  end,  and  his  brother 
Abd-ul-Aziz  ascended  the  throne,  —  a  genuine  Turk 
of  the  old  school,  as  determined  an  autocrat  as 
his  father,  but  of  unbalanced  mind;  wildly  extrava- 
gant, to  such  an  extent  that  he  reduced  the  empire 
to  bankruptcy;  fond  of  cock-fighting  and  similar 
amusements.  He  once  decorated  a  successful  fight- 
ing-cock with  the  first  class  of  the  Order  of  the 
Medjidie.  On  another  occasion  he  smashed  the  fur- 
niture and  mirrors  in  his  palace,  in  a  fit  of  rage. 

During  the  first  ten  years  of  his  reign,  French 
influence  was  supreme  in  Constantinople,  and  two 
of  the  Turkish  Ministers,  Fuad  and  Aali  Pashas, 
were  recognized  in  Europe  as  statesmen  of  unusual 
ability.  They  induced  the  Sultan  to  ignore  the  tra- 
ditions of  his  ancestors  and  make  a  tour  through 
Europe  to  visit  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  He  was 
•careful  to  take  with  him  the  next  heirs  to  the  throne, 
his  two  nephews,  Murad  and  Hamid,  to  guard 
against  a  revolution  during  his  absence. 

On  the  occasion  of  his  return  and  of  the  visit 
of  the  Empress  Eugenie  after  the  opening  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  we  had  the  most  magnificent  fetes  on 
the  Bosphorus  that  Constantinople  had  ever  seen. 
During  these  ten  years  of  French  influence  there 
was  comparative  peace  in  Constantinople,  except 


XVUl 


INTRODUCTION 

for  the  conflict  between  the  Greeks  and  Bulgari- 
ans over  their  church  relations.  The  Sultan  was 
building  palaces,  buying  ironclads  for  his  navy, 
and  making  foreign  loans  to  pay  for  them.  The 
people  were  generally  prosperous  and  contented, 
and  there  was  always  talk  of  reforms  in  the  empire. 

But  the  influence  of  the  great  changes  going  on 
in  Europe  stirred  the  subject  races  of  European 
Turkey  to  revolt  against  the  Turkish  rule.  Servia, 
Wallachia  and  Moldavia  were  successful.  The  Cre- 
tans defeated  the  Turkish  armies  again  and  again, 
and  maintained  an  heroic  struggle  for  liberty  for 
three  years,  aided  by  the  Greeks ;  but  the  powers 
of  Europe  allowed  them  to  be  subdued  at  last. 

The  fall  of  the  French  Empire  put  an  end  to 
French  influence  in  Constantinople;  and  as  Bis- 
marck had  no  interest  in  the  Eastern  Question,  there 
was  a  battle  royal  between  England  and  Russia  to 
win  the  confidence  of  the  Sultan  and  control  his 
policy.  It  was  the  object  of  Sir  Henry  Elliott,  the 
British  ambassador,  to  maintain  and  strengthen 
the  Turkish  Empire  as  a  barrier  against  the  ad- 
vance of  Russia,  while  General  Ignatieff,  the  Rus- 
sian ambassador,  hoped  to  free  the  Slavic  pro- 
vinces of  European  Turkey  from  Turkish  rule, 
and  make  of  them  a  bridge  by  which  Russia  could 
come  to  Constantinople.  "WTiile  the  secret  agents 
of  Russia  w^ere  everywhere  encouraging  the  Slavs 
to  rise  in  rebellion  against  the  Turks,  Sir  Henry 
Elliott  was  conspiring  with  the  Turks  to  dethrone 
the  Sultan,  and  at  the  same  time  to  put  down  the 
revolutionary  movements  in  the  European  Pro- 
vinces with  fire  and  sword. 

xix 


INTRODUCTION 

The  English  ambassador  cast  in  his  lot  with  what 
was  then  first  known  as  the  Young  Turkey  party, 
the  leader  of  which  was  Midhat  Pasha.  This  party 
at  that  time  was  a  sort  of  *'  Cave  of  Adullam" ;  the 
only  thing  in  which  they  agreed  was  the  desire  to 
throw  off  the  tutelage  of  Europe  and  restore  the 
strength  and  independence  of  the  Turkish  Empire. 
For  some  of  them  this  meant  a  great  panislamic 
revival  and  the  restoration  of  the  ancient  power 
of  the  Caliph.  Others  dreamed  of  a  new  Turkey, 
in  which  Moslems  and  Christians  should  unite  to- 
gether to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Europe,  and  build 
up  a  great  and  prosperous  Ottoman  Empire  by 
themselves.  A  few  were  republicans,  a  few  anar- 
chists. Midhat  Pasha  himself  had  been  a  very  suc- 
cessful provincial  governor,  an  able  administrator, 
devoted  to  road-making  and  other  public  improve- 
ments, self-educated,  and  a  most  interesting  talker 
on  political  affairs.  His  personal  following  was 
never  very  large,  but  his  intimate  relations  with 
Sir  Henry  Elliott  made  him  an  important  conspira- 
tor. 

The  conflict  went  on  until,  in  May,  1876,  General 
Ignatieff  appeared  to  have  been  defeated  along  the 
whole  line.  Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz  was  deposed,  and 
a  week  later  either  murdered  or  allowed  to  commit 
suicide.  First  Murad  and  then  Hamid  was  put 
upon  the  throne  by  Sir  Henry  and  his  Turkish 
allies.  Midhat  Pasha  was  Grand  Vizier,  and  Gen- 
eral Ignatieff's  proteges  in  the  European  provinces 
were  slaughtered  without  mercy.  It  was  dramatic, 
—  a  revolution  and  three  sultans  within  three 
months,  —  but  it  was  a  barren  victory  for  both 


XX 


INTRODUCTION 

Sir  Henry  Elliott  and  Midhat  Pasha.  Within  a 
year  Sir  Henry  was  retired  and  Midhat  Pasha  sent 
into  exile,  to  be  finally  assassinated  in  Arabia,  while 
Turkey  was  plunged  into  a  war  with  Russia  wliich 
resulted  in  the  loss  of  most  of  her  European  pos- 
sessions. There  was  one  force  which  Sir  Henry 
resolutely  ignored,  and  that  was  the  pul)lic  opinion, 
the  sympathies  of  the  Christian  world.  The  out- 
side world  did  not  care  whether  the  Sultan  was 
Aziz  or  Murad  or  Hamid,  but  the  wholesale  mas- 
sacre of  unarmed  Christian  people  by  the  Turks 
in  Bulgaria  made  a  European  intervention  inev- 
itable, and  when,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1876,  the 
Conference  of  Constantinople  opened  a  way  for  a 
peaceful  settlement  in  a  partial  autonomy  for  the 
Christian  provinces.  Sir  Henry  and  Midhat  Pasha 
made  the  mistake  of  believing  that  Europe  could  be 
satisfied  by  the  pretense  that  Turkey  had  suddenly 
become  a  constitutional  government  under  which 
Moslem  and  Christian  were  to  have  equal  rights. 
After  this,  war  was  inevitable,  and  no  Christian 
state  dared  to  ally  itself  with  Turkey.  This  un- 
happy constitution  of  Midhat  Pasha,  which  the 
Sultan  had  accepted  to  humbug  Europe,  had  to 
wait  thirty- two  years  before  the  autocratic  rule  of 
Abd-ul-Hamid  had  driven  the  Turks  themselves 
to  revolt  and  to  seek  refuge  in  its  establishment. 

Life  in  Constantinople  during  these  years  of 
massacre,  revolution  and  war,  from  1875  to  1878, 
was  anything  but  peaceful.  They  were  years  of  wild 
excitement,  sometimes  of  joy,  sometimes  of  despair, 
on  the  part  of  the  Turks.  AVlien  they  had  beaten 
the  Servians,   terrorized  Bulgaria,   defied  Europe 

xxi 


INTRODUCTION 

by  rejecting  the  demands  of  the  Conference,  and 
declared  war  with  Russia,  they  were  full  of  enthusi- 
asm and  hope.  During  the  first  months  of  the  war, 
when  the  Turks  had  checked  the  advance  of  the 
Russians,  the  Christian  population  of  the  city  was 
alarmed  for  its  own  safety.  When  the  tide  turned 
and  the  city  was  filled  with  disbanded  soldiers  and 
starving  Turkish  refugees,  the  Christians  prayed 
for  the  speedy  coming  of  the  Russians.  The  hor- 
rors of  that  winter  can  never  be  forgotten.  Thou- 
sands of  these  poor  Turks,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, died  in  the  streets  and  mosques  of  starvation 
and  of  pestilence.  They  were  too  far  gone,  when 
they  reached  the  city,  to  plunder  it.  Then  came 
the  Russian  armies,  which  camped  outside  the 
city,  and  at  whose  headquarters  the  Sultan  agreed 
to  the  treaty  of  San  Stefano,  which  provided  for 
the  dismemberment  of  his  empire.  It  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  the  Sultan  was  dissuaded  from 
abandoning  Constantinople  and  retiring  to  Broosa. 
But  for  the  arrival  of  the  English  fleet,  he  would 
probably  have  gone  and  the  Russians  would  have 
occupied  the  city. 

The  intervention  of  England  led  to  the  Congress 
of  Berlin,  in  which  Prince  Bismarck  professed  to 
act  the  part  of  "an  honest  broker"  between  the 
Powers.  The  treaty  of  Berlin,  which  took  the  place 
of  the  treaty  of  San  Stefano,  humiliated  Russia 
without  helping  Turkey,  while  it  ignored  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  people  of  the  provinces  of 
which  it  disposed.  It  was  a  triumph  for  Lord  Bea- 
consfield,  but  it  was  a  misfortune  for  England,  and 
has  been  a  source  of  trouble  in  Europe  ever  since. 

xxii 


INTRODUCTION 

When  the  war  was  over,  peace  concluded  and 
the  treaty  of  Berlin  signed,  Sultan  Abd-uI-IIamid 
set  himself  to  his  task  of  rebuilding  the  shattered 
fabric  of  his  empire.  To  those  who  knew  Turkey 
best  it  seemed  a  hopeless  task  —  the  treasury  bank- 
rupt, credit  gone,  the  richest  provinces  lost,  the 
army  defeated  and  demoralized,  the  people  dis- 
heartened or  disloyal,  and  neighbors  awaiting  the 
chance  to  strike  another  blow.  All  honor  to  Sultan 
Hamid  that  he  undertook  this  task  with  unshaken 
faith  in  the  destiny  of  his  country.  He  bore  the 
burden  alone,  a  solitary  autocrat,  trusting  no  one 
but  himself,  least  of  all  his  appointed  ministers.  He 
reigned  supreme  for  thirty  years  after  the  war,  and 
proved  himself  more  than  a  match  for  all  the  diplo- 
mats of  Europe.  The  story  of  these  thirty  years,  up 
to  the  time  when  his  autocratic  rule  was  brought 
to  an  end  by  the  revolution  of  July,  1908,  ought  to 
have  been  heroic.  In  fact  it  is  pitiful,  and  the  pity 
of  it  comes  from  two  fatal  mistakes.  He  was  a  self- 
constituted  prisoner  in  his  palace,  and  undertook 
to  hold  the  whole  administration  of  the  empire 
in  his  own  hands.  As  no  man  could  do  this  work 
alone,  he  surrounded  himself  with  irresponsible 
attendants,  secretaries,  valets,  astrologers,  spies  and 
other  vagabonds  of  various  Moslem  races,  some  of 
them  the  worst  characters  in  the  empire.  He  was 
possessed  by  the  idea  that  he  was  in  danger  of  assas- 
sination, and  his  attendants  made  him  believe  that 
it  was  only  by  their  care  that  his  life  could  be  pre- 
served. They  were  but  little  better  than  a  band 
of  brigands,  and  there  was  no  conceivable  crime 
which  they  did  not  commit  under  the  protection 

xxiii 


INTRODUCTION 

of  the  Sultan.  Their  chief  object  was  pkmder,  and 
as  they  were  the  real  rulers  of  the  empire,  no  one 
was  safe  from  their  extortions.  There  was  no  escape 
from  this  palace  camarilla  except  in  revolution. 
Europe  would  no  doubt  have  intervened  years  ago, 
but  for  the  fact  that  the  German  Emperor  took 
this  camarilla  under  his  special  protection. 

The  Sultan  himself  had  some  ideas  which  were 
worthy  of  a  great  sovereign,  and  which  he  at- 
tempted to  carry  out.  He  saw  the  need  of  education 
and  ordered  the  establishment  of  a  great  number  of 
schools  for  Turks,  even  for  girls.  He  saw  the  need 
of  training  for  the  officers  of  the  army  and  in- 
duced the  German  Emperor  to  loan  him  a  number 
of  distinguished  officers  for  this  purpose.  He  en- 
couraged the  building  of  roads  and  railways.  He 
interested  himself  in  the  sanitary  condition  of  the 
empire,  built  a  number  of  admirable  hospitals  and 
reorganized  the  medical  schools.  He  favored  the 
development  of  the  mineral  resources  of  the  coun- 
try and  was  no  doubt  interested  in  its  general  pros- 
perity. The  palace  camarilla  had  no  interest  in  any 
of  these  things  except  so  far  as  they  afforded  them 
opportunities  for  plunder.  Death  or  exile  was  the 
fate  of  those  who  opposed  them.  They  made  the 
Sultan  believe  that  his  schools  were  fostering  sedi- 
tion, and  that  the  officers  trained  by  the  Germans 
were  not  to  be  trusted.  They  organized  a  system  of 
espionage  which  employed  thousands  of  spies  and 
created  a  reign  of  terror  for  all  intelligent  Turks 
and  Christians.  Hundreds  were  secretly  put  to 
death,  and  many  thousands  sent  into  exile.  Many 
others  secretly  escaped  from  the  country.    These 

xxiv 


INTRODUCTION 

were  condemDed  in  their  absence,  and  their  pro- 
perty was  confiscated.  The  suffering  of  the  people 
all  through  the  empire  under  this  regime  was  ter- 
rible. Even  the  army  was  half  starved  and  clad  in 
rags. 

The  Sultan  took  his  religious  rank  as  Caliph  of 
the  Mohammedan  world  more  seriously  than  his 
immediate  ancestors  did,  and  in  this  he  seems  to 
have  been  encouraged  by  the  palace  camarilla. 
How  far  his  motives  were  religious  and  how  far 
political,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  One  of  his  inti- 
mates assured  a  friend  of  mine  that  the  Sultan  was 
an  agnostic,  with  no  faith  in  any  religion ;  but  he 
certainly  did  his  best  to  rouse  the  militant  spirit 
of  Mohammedanism,  not  only  in  Turkey  but  all 
over  the  Moslem  world,  and  also  to  break  down  the 
influence  of  his  own  Christian  subjects.  He  would 
have  taken  away  all  their  established  rights,  if  Rus- 
sia and  other  Christian  powers  had  not  intervened 
in  their  behalf. 

The  treaty  of  Berlin  had  a  special  article  in  the 
interest  of  the  Armenians,  but  the  Turks  soon  dis- 
covered that  England  was  the  only  power  interested 
in  enforcing  it,  and  nothing  was  done.  The  more 
loudly  the  Armenians  appealed  to  Europe,  the 
heavier  was  the  hand  of  the  Sultan;  until  finally, 
in  1894,  the  work  of  extermination  was  commenced 
in  ancient  Armenia.  In  1895  there  was  a  massacre 
of  about  a  thousand  in  Constantinople,  and  as  the 
powers  tolerated  this,  the  massacres  went  on  for  a 
year  all  over  Asiatic  Turkey,  culminating  in  the 
great  massacre  in  Constantinople  in  1896,  when 
some  ten  thousand  were  slaughtered  in  the  streets 

XXV 


INTRODUCTION 

of  the  city,  which  literally  ran  with  blood.  Even 
worse  than  the  killing  of  so  many  was  the  tireless 
plunder  and  persecution  that  went  on  from  1880 
to  1908.  It  was  only  the  palace  camarilla  and  its 
agents  that  profited  by  this.  It  was  through  its 
influence  that  the  Sultan  approved  it,  while  the 
better,  more  enlightened  class  of  Turks  felt  that 
this  plunder  and  massacre  of  the  Christians  was  a 
political  blunder  and  a  great  moral  wrong,  whatever 
provocation  had  been  given  by  the  iVrmenian  revo- 
lutionists in  their  attempts  to  attract  the  attention 
and  secure  the  support  of  Europe. 

The  palace  camarilla  made  a  similar  mistake 
in  encouraging  the  revolutionists  in  Egypt,  under 
the  impression  that  in  so  doing  it  was  working  in 
the  interest  of  panislamism,  and  strengthening  the 
hands  of  the  Caliph.  The  result  was  the  occupa- 
tion of  Egypt  by  England.  Turkey  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  join  England  in  the  occupation  of  the 
country,  but  failed  to  improve  it.  The  loss  which 
was  most  keenly  felt  at  the  palace  was  the  cutting 
off  of  the  golden  stream  of  backsheesh  which  was 
always  coming  in  from  the  Khedive. 

Following  closely  upon  the  loss  of  Egypt  came 
the  revolt  of  Eastern  Roumelia,  in  1885,  and  its 
annexation  to  Bulgaria.  In  this  case  Turkey  hap- 
pily followed  the  lead  of  England  and  refused  the 
demand  of  Russia  that  she  should  reconquer  the 
province.  The  Czar  had  his  revenge  in  stirring 
up  the  Servians  to  attack  Bulgaria,  and,  when  they 
were  beaten,  in  kidnapping  and  dethroning  Prince 
Alexander;  but  Bulgaria  lived  and  flourished  in 

spite  of  his  enmity. 

xxvi 


INTRODUCTION 

These  changes  in  Egypt  and  Bulgaria  brought 
about  great  diplomatic  conflicts  in  Constantinople, 
which  added  not  a  little  to  the  interest  of  life  in 
that  city. 

In  the  summer  of  1894  Constantinople  was  se- 
verely shaken  by  an  earthquake,  which  caused  the 
death  of  some  fifteen  hundred  persons,  most  of 
whom  were  buried  in  the  ruins  of  the  bazaars,  and 
great  numbers  of  people  camped  out  for  a  month, 
while  the  shocks  were  repeated  almost  every  day. 

The  same  year  the  Greeks  in  Constantinople 
resented  the  action  of  the  palace  in  restricting  their 
rights,  by  closing  all  their  churches,  and  Russia  in- 
tervened in  their  behalf.  In  1889,  1896,  and  1897, 
there  were  revolts  of  the  Greeks  in  Crete,  which 
resulted  in  a  war  between  Greece  and  Turkey,  in 
which  the  Turks,  aided  by  German  officers,  easily 
defeated  the  Greeks,  and  were  prevented  from  occu- 
pying Athens  only  by  the  intervention  of  Europe; 
but,  as  generally  happens  in  such  cases,  Turkey 
was  not  allowed  to  reap  the  fruits  of  victory.  The 
European  powers  took  possession  of  Crete,  and 
nothing  was  left  of  the  Turkish  rule  over  the  island 
but  a  small  Turkish  flag  on  an  island  in  Suda  Bay. 

In  1903  the  storm-centre  in  Turkey  was  trans- 
ferred to  Macedonia.  The  condition  of  the  pro- 
vince had  been  pitiable  ever  since  the  Congress  of 
Berlin  had  recommended  that  it  be  made  an  au- 
tonomous province  by  Turkey.  The  Turks  refused 
to  carry  out  this  plan,  and  the  Christian  population 
was  given  over  to  be  exterminated  by  Albanian 
brigands  and  Turkish  officials.  As  Europe  would 
do  nothing  to  help  them,  the  people  finally  revolted. 

xxvii 


INTRODUCTION 

This  movement  was  directed  by  a  committee  of 
Bulgarian  revolutionists  which  had  brought  the 
whole  Christian  population  under  its  control  by 
systematic  terrorism ;  and  for  a  while  it  was  success- 
ful. From  that  time  up  to  July,  1908,  the  state  of  the 
country  was  such  as  to  force  the  European  pgwers 
to  intervene.  That  nothing  was  accomplished  by  suc- 
cessive interventions  was  due  to  the  fact  that  Rus- 
sia and  Austria  were  allowed  to  take  the  lead,  and 
neither  of  them  desired  any  permanent  settlement 
of  the  question.  It  was  only  the  Western  powers 
which  had  any  real  sympathy  for  the  people  of 
the  province.  The  Turks  might  have  put  an  end  to 
the  existing  anarchy,  but  they  preferred  to  encour- 
age the  coniBict  of  races  and  religions  which  was 
going  on  and  destroying  the  Christians.  We  may 
find  some  excuse  for  the  Turks,  but  the  conduct  of 
the  European  powers,  including  Greece  and  Bul- 
garia, admits  of  no  excuse.  For  five  years  Constan- 
tinople was  constantly  agitated  by  the  different 
phases  of  this  question. 

The  revolution  of  July,  1908,  was  the  triumph 
of  a  process  of  enlightenment  which  has  been  going 
on  for  many  years  among  the  Turks.  They  have 
ruled  over  the  many  conquered  races  of  the  empire 
for  six  hundred  years  in  the  spirit  of  Asiatic  despots, 
and  have  shown  themselves  to  be  the  most  remark- 
able race  that  has  ever  come  out  of  Central  Asia  to 
trouble  the  peace  of  Europe.  Fifty  years  ago  they 
were  essentially  unchanged  from  what  they  were 
when  they  first  appeared  in  Asia  Minor.  This  immo- 
bility has  undoubtedly  come  from  the  unchange- 
able character  of  Mohammedanism.  It  is  only  since 

xxviii 


INTRODUCTION 

the  Crimean  War  that  any  number  of  them  have 
come  under  the  influence  of  Christian  civilization. 
Thirty  years  ago,  in  the  time  of  Midhat  Pasha,  we 
first  heard  of  a  Young  Turkey  party,  which  pro- 
posed to  modernize  the  form  of  government;  hut 
it  was  too  weak  to  influence  Sultan  Abd-ul-Hamid, 
and  the  palace  camarilla  waged  an  incessant  war 
against  the  Christian  nationalities  which  naturally 
sympathized  with  the  Young  Turkey  party. 

The  sudden  and  astonishing  success  of  the  revo- 
lution was  due  to  many  causes,  first  of  all  to  the  uni- 
versal fear  and  hatred  for  the  existing  government, 
and  next,  to  the  wisdom  and  tact  of  the  Committee 
of  Union  and  Progress  which  directed  it.  It  was  a 
wonderful  inspiration  which  led  them  to  attempt 
nothing  at  Constantinople,  and,  after  having  se- 
cured the  support  of  the  army,  to  strike  their  blow 
from  Macedonia  and  revolutionize  Constantinople 
by  telegraph.  The  palace  camarilla  and  the  regi- 
ments of  the  Sultan's  body-guard  could  do  nothing. 
There  was  nothing  in  Constantinople  for  them  to 
strike. 

Of  course,  behind  all  these  things  was  the  rapid 
progress  of  enlightenment  among  the  Turks  during 
these  thirty  years.  This  was  due  in  some  measure 
to  the  acts  of  the  Sultan  himself.  He  had  seen  the 
necessity  of  education  for  the  Turks,  and  founded 
many  schools  of  all  kinds.  He  had  brought  Ger- 
man oflficers  for  his  military  schools,  and  German 
doctors  for  his  medical  schools  and  hospitals,  who 
inspired  the  Young  Turks  with  modern  ideas. 
Every  enlightened  Turk  sent  into  exile  in  the  in- 
terior became  a  centre  of  light,  and  every  one  who 

xxix 


J 


INTRODUCTION 

managed  to  escape  to  Europe  was  filled  with  new 
ideas  of  society  and  of  government. 

Other  influences  have  been  potent.  Every  mis- 
sionary station,  and  every  school  and  college,  has 
not  only  elevated  its  Christian  students  and  the  few 
Turks  who  attended  these  schools,  but  it  has  shown 
to  all  the  value  of  education  and  made  them  more  or 
less  familiar  with  the  progress  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. The  influence  of  education  on  the  Bulgarians 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  Turks,  even 
upon  the  Sultan  himself. 

In  addition  to  all  these  things,  intelligent  and 
patriotic  Turks  were  moved  by  the  rapid  decline  of 
their  power  and  the  dismemberment  of  the  em- 
pire. They  had  a  great  history  to  stir  their  pride, 
and  felt  that  by  nature  they  were  the  equals  of  any 
other  race  while  even  in  the  Mohammedan  world 
their  influence  was  waning.  They  felt  that  their 
only  hope  lay  in  the  transformation  of  their  govern- 
ment, the  education  and  general  enlightenment  of 
the  Turkish  people. 

It  was  a  Turkish  revolution  in  the  interest  of  the 
Turks  and  designed  to  strengthen  their  power,  but 
its  leaders  took  for  their  watchwords.  Liberty,  Jus- 
ice,  Equality  and  Fraternity,  for  all  the  races  and 
religions  of  the  empire,  with  equal  rights  and  equal 
duties  for  all.  As  we  in  America  proclaimed  these 
principles  in  1776,  and  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
put  them  in  force  in  all  parts  of  our  country,  we 
may  expect  to  wait  some  time  before  they  can  be 
fully  carried  out  in  Turkey ;  but  there  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  the  honesty  and  sincerity  of  the  Young 
Turkey  party  in  proclaiming  them. 

XXX 


INTRODUCTION 

Abd-ul-IIamid  professed  to  accept  the  new  order 
of  things  which  had  transformed  him  from  an  auto- 
crat  into  a  constitutional  sovereign,  but  at  heart 
he  resented  the  dictation  of  the  Young  Turks  and 
secretly  plotted  for  their  destruction.  April  13, 1909, 
he  startled  the  world  by  a  counter  revolution  at 
Constantinople  and  the  massacre  of  many  thou- 
sand Christians  in  Asia  Minor  and  Syria.  In  a  few 
days  his  triumph  seemed  complete,  but  eleven  days 
later  the  Young  Turks,  with  an  army  from  Macedo- 
nia, stormed  and  captured  the  city.  Abd-ul-IIamid 
was  taken  prisoner,  deposed  and  transported  to 
Salonica,  while  his  brother  w^as  proclaimed  Sul- 
tan Mahomet  V  and  reigned  in  his  stead. 

How  far  the  conquered  races  in  Turkey,  Moslem 
and  Christian,  will  heartily  accept  this  new  form 
of  Turkish  rule  and  give  it  their  support  remains 
to  be  seen.  The  wild  enthusiasm  and  joy  of  the  first 
days  of  emancipation  from  the  tyranny  of  the  palace 
camarilla  have  passed,  and  already  some  of  these 
nationalities  have  come  to  remember  that  what 
they  have  desired  was  not  the  reform  but  the  de- 
struction of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Russia  and  Aus- 
tria are  not  likely  to  discourage  this  feeling,  which 
has  been  the  basis  of  their  policy  for  more  than  a 
century. 

However  this  may  be,  we  have  to-day  a  new 
Constantinople  hastening  to  be  transformed  into 
a  European  city.  The  old  Asiatic  Constantinople 
of  a  hundred,  or  even  fifty  years  ago  will  soon 
disappear. 

Boston,  1909. 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 

Robert  College  was  founded  by  Mr.  ChristopheA 
Rheinlander  Robert,  a  New  York  merchant  descended  I 
from  a  French  Huguenot  family  of  Rochelle,  France.^   J 

There  is  still  an  impression  in  some  quarters  in 
America,  that  the  idea  of  founding  a  Christian  college  in 
Constantinople  was  a  whim  of  IVIr.  Robert's,  a  notion 
which  sprang  from  his  brain  as  did  Athena  from  the  head 
of  Zeus,  and  it  is  often  spoken  of  as  IVir.  Robert's  college. 
The  truth  is  that  the  College  grew  out  of  the  natural^-  vj 

velopment  of  American  missions  in  Turkey,  in  whici 
Mr.  Robert  had  long  been  interested.  The  policy  of  th( 
missionary  boards  at  that  tune  was  opposed  to  the  ex^ 

*  Mr.  Robert  was  descended,  in  the  fourth  generation,  from 
Daniel  Robert  of  Rochelle,  who  was  believed  to  have  been  a  di- 
rect descendant  of  Count  Robert  of  Normandy,  the  son  of 
William  the  Conqueror,  King  of  England.  Daniel  Robert  was 
a  Huguenot,  and  emigrated  to  New  York  in  1701,  after  the  revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  when  he  became  a  British  subject. 
His  grandson,  Mr.  Robert's  father,  was  a  graduate  of  Columbia 
and  Edinburgh  Universities,  a  physician  by  profession,  who,  after 
living  ten  years  in  the  British  "West  Indies,  returned  to  New  York 
in  1784  and  bought  a  large  estate  on  Long  Island,  where  Mr. 
Christopher  R.  Robert  was  born  March  23,  1802.  When  fifteen 
years  old  he  went  into  a  merchant's  ofl5ce  in  New  York,  and 
continued  in  business  all  his  life. 

1 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

penditure  of  missionary  funds  for  education.    A  resolu- 
tion was  passed  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F. 
M.  in  1856,  that  the  only  work  of  the  missionary  was  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  "  the  oral  utterance  of  the  Gospel  in 
public  or  in  private  " ;  but  the  time  had  come  when  some 
at  least  of  the  missionaries  in  the  field  saw  the  necessity 
of  a  new  departure,  saw  what  a  Christian  college  might 
accomplish  in  the  elevation  of  the  people.     Mr.  Robert 
was  the  first  man  of  means  in  America  to  see  and  appre- 
ciate this  necessity,  the  man  whom  God  chose  to  meet 
this  want  in  Turkey,  and  to  turn  the  tide  of  missionary 
work  in  other  parts  of  the  world  in  this  direction.    The 
fact  that  he  was  the  treasurer  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  which  had  already  discovered  this 
need  in  the  newer  states  of  the  West,  was  perhaps  one 
reason  why  he  became  a  leader  in  this  movement.   Mr. 
Robert  himself  always  felt  that  he  had  been  providen- 
tially directed  to  the  sacrifices  which  he  made  to  found 
and  sustain  the  College.   It  was  the  Lord's  work,  not  his. 
There  were  good  reasons  why  the  first  American  col- 
lege of  this  kind  should  have  been  founded  at  Constan- 
tinople.  Not  only  had  the  attention  of  the  Christian 
world  been  concentrated  upon  the  Turkish  Empire  by 
the  Crimean  War,  but  the  people  of  Turkey  had  been 
aroused  to  new  life  and  were  beginning  to  seek  for  edu- 
cation.  It  was  believed  that  a  new  era  of  tolerance  and 
liberty  had  dawned  upon  the  East,  that  the  government, 
as  well  as  the  people,  was  desirous  of  encouraging  prog- 
ress in  every  form,  that  at  last  there  was  an  open  door  in 
Tm-key.   Sultan  Abd-ul-Medjid  was  a  reformer,  Fuad 
and  Aali  Pashas  were  enlightened  statesmen.  The  Hatt- 
i-houmayoun  was  a  charter  of  liberty  for  all.   This  was 
the  general  beHef  of  the  Americans  in  Turkey. 

2 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 

The  French  and  the  Roman  Catholics  had  been  quick 
to  see  and  improve  the  opportunity  for  poHtical  and  reh- 
gious  propaganda.  They  had  estabhshed  a  number  of 
schools  of  a  low  grade,  and  had  induced  many  of  the 
wealthy  families  to  send  their  sons  to  Paris.  French  in- 
fluence was  already  dominant  here.  There  were  but  few 
native  schools  of  any  kind.  There  were  some  Moham- 
medan schools  for  small  children  connected  with  the 
mosques,  as  well  as  naval,  military  and  theological 
schools.  There  were  a  few  Protestant  and  Catholic 
mission-schools,  and  here  and  there  the  Christian  nation- 
alities had  established  schools,  in  some  of  which  there 
were  teachers  who  were  doing  good  work ;  but  there  was 
nothing  corresponding  to  an  American  college  in  the  em- 
pire. More  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world  at  that  time, 
there  seemed  to  be  an  open  door  and  a  great  work  to  be 
done.  Constantinople  was  the  natural  place  to  begin  it. 
It  was  not  only  the  capital  of  the  empire,  but  it  had  been 
for  fifteen  centuries  the  centre  of  hfe  and  power  in  this 
part  of  the  world. 

The  idea  of  founding  a  college  at  Constantinople  was 
first  suggested  to  Mr.  Robert  in  1857  by  Messrs.  James 
and  WilHam  Dwight,  the  sons  of  Rev.  Dr.  H.  G.  O. 
D  wight,  then  a  missionary  here.  They  were  young  men 
of  high  character,  graduates  of  Yale  College  and  Union 
Theological  Seminary.  They  called  upon  IVIr.  Robert, 
as  a  well-known  philanthropist  and  friend  of  missions, 
and  stated  that  they  had  for  some  time  contemplated 
founding  a  school  at  Constantinople,  not  in  any  way  con- 
nected with  the  Mission  and  tolerant  of  the  religious 
prejudices  of  the  natives,  which  they  hoped  would  soon 
become  self-supporting,  and  they  proposed  to  associate 
with  themselves  an  Armenian,  also  a  graduate  of  Yale. 

S 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Mr.  Robert  was  interested  in  their  plan,  and  in  Octo- 
ber, 1857,  a  meeting  was  held  at  his  house  to  consider 
this  proposition.  Those  present  were  Rev.  Drs.  Wm.  M. 
Adams,  A.  D.  Smith,  G.  W.  Wood,  M.  Badger,  D.  B. 
Coe,  W.  G.  Schauffler  and  E.  Riggs  (the  last  two  from 
Constantinople),  Hon.  Geo.  P.  Marsh,  Messrs.  Robert, 
Ely,  Moore,  Ransom  and  Schiefflin.  No  decisive  action 
was  taken  at  this  meeting  beyond  the  suggestion  of  six 
names  for  trustees  of  the  proposed  school.  Five  of  these 
gentlemen  appear  to  have  met  once  in  March,  1858,  and 
in  May  the  Messrs.  Dwight  called  on  Mr.  Robert  again, 
and  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Hamlin  to  ask  his  opinion  of  the 
plan ;  but,  so  far  as  I  can  learn  from  the  correspondence 
in  my  hands,  no  money  was  ever  pledged  by  any  one  to 
carry  out  this  project,  and  it  was  abandoned.  The 
reasons  for  the  failure  of  the  Messrs.  Dwight  to  secure 
support  appear  to  have  been  their  youth,  lack  of  confi- 
dence in  the  person  associated  with  them,  the  financial 
crisis  in  America  at  the  time,  and  a  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  religious  status  of  the  school.  The  Messrs. 
Dwight  proposed  to  make  the  school  purely  secular, 
while  Mr.  Robert  and  others,  to  whom  they  appealed, 
felt  that  there  was  no  reason  why  they  should  give  money 
for  a  school  in  Constantinople,  unless  it  was  to  be  dis- 
tinctively Christian.  Dr.  Hamlin  had  written  to  the 
Messrs.  Dwight  in  1856,  that  it  must  be  "  a  decided, 
thorough  Christian  school  from  its  very  commence- 
ment," or  it  would  not  secure  the  confidence  of  the 
people.  A  school  without  a  religion  would  be  an  inex- 
plicable anomaly  in  Constantinople,  and,  as  he  said  in 
another  letter,  "would  be  regarded  as  a  trap  to  cheat 
the  devil."  ^ 

*  In  justice  to  the  memory  of  the  Messrs.  Dwight  it  should  be 

4 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 

Mr.  Robert  liad  become  too  much  interested  in  the 
idea  of  founding  a  college  in  Constantinople  to  let  it 
drop  when  the  Messrs.  Dwight  gave  it  up,  and  he  natu- 
rally turned  to  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  whose  acquaintance 
he  had  made  when  he  visited  Constantinople  during  the 
Crimean  War,  at  the  time  w  hen  Dr.  Hamlin  was  fur- 
nishing the  British  hospitals  and  soldiers  w  ith  bread.  He 
had  previously  consulted  him  as  to  the  project  of  the 
Messrs.  Dwight  and  January  3, 1859,  in  a  postscript  to 
a  letter,  he  WTote :  "  Since  writing  a  few  lines  this  morn- 
ing it  has  occurred  to  me  to  ask  confidentially  whether, 
in  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the  institution  referred 
to,  it  may  not  be  your  duty  to  take  charge  of  it.  I  think 
thirty-five  to  forty  thousand  dollars  can  be  secured  for  it 
with  comparative  ease,  if  you  do,  and  I  doubt  if  it  can  be 
without.  My  idea  is  to  have  the  Messrs.  Dwight  as  your 
assistants.   You  may  ^\Tite  me  fully  on  the  subject." 

x\pparently  Dr.  Hamlin  either  failed  to  notice  the  post- 
script, or  did  not  take  it  seriously.  IVlr.  Robert  wTote 
him  again  March  15,  repeating  the  question.  To  this 
Dr.  Hamlin  replied  at  length.  After  calling  attention  to 
the  fact  that  he  had  certain  disqualifications  for  the 
place ;  that  he  was  not  a  persona  grata  with  the  Turks, 
and  had  a  very  meagre  knowledge  of  the  Turkish  lan- 
guage ;  that  he  had  not  the  requisite  scholarship  for  the 

stated  that  in  the  origiQal  circular  which  they  issued  in  1856  they 
say,  "  It  is  desirable  that  the  leading  object  of  this  institution  should 
be  to  cooperate  with  the  direct  labor  of  others  in  the  work  of 
Protestant  Evangelization,  by  giving  the  whole  instruction  a  de- 
cided and  unmistakable  Evangelical  influence,  though  it  may  be 
important  that  it  should  be  distinctly  recognized  as  standing  on  its 
own  separate  and  independent  basis."  It  appears  to  have  been  in 
the  discussion  of  practical  details  that  a  serious  difference  of 
opinion  arose. 

5 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

post,  and  that  his  work  in  Bebec  Seminary  had  aimed 
only  at  preparing  young  Armenians  for  the  ministry  by 
a  short  com-se  of  study,  he  concluded  as  follows :  "  This 
letter  will  be  quite  as  unsatisfactory  to  you  as  to  me.  I 
do  not  see  clearly  what  course  the  thing  will  take,  and  I 
wish  to  know  the  position  of  the  Dwights  before  I  go 
farther,  also  to  ascertain  the  opinions  of  my  associates 
and  some  good  friends  and  advisers  like  Count  DeZuy- 
len,  the  pious  and  excellent  Dutch  ambassador.  Dr. 
Millingen,  and  others." 

Without  waiting  for  a  reply  to  his  letter,  Mr.  Robert 
commissioned  Rev.  Drs.  Coe  and  Badger  to  address  to 
Dr.  Hamlin  a  formal  invitation  to  devote  himself  to  this 
enterprise,  which  they  did  March  28,  1859,  without 
mentioning  Mr.  Robert's  name.  Dr.  Hamlin  concluded 
that  Mr.  Robert  had  inspired  this  proposal,  and  wrote 
to  hun  April  26:  "I  shall  write  to  Messrs.  Coe  and 
Badger  as  soon  as  any  light  dawns  upon  my  path.  If  I 
should  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  do  anything  for  this  great 
undertaking,  it  would  be  only  to  get  it  fairly  started  and 
leave  it  in  abler  hands.  .  .  .  It  is  of  the  Lord  and  can- 
not fail,  whether  I  have  anything  to  do  with  it  or  not." 

Mr.  Robert  wrote  again  June  27,  to  press  the  question, 
and  August  22  Dr.  Hamlin  replied  that  he  had  laid  the 
subject  before  his  associates  in  the  Mission,  and  that  the 
majority  had  expressed  a  decided  opinion  in  favor  of  his 
undertaking  the  work.  Two  weeks  later  he  wrote  again : 
**I  have,  with  feehngs  of  deep  solemnity  and  sorrow, 
written  my  request  to  be  released  from  the  service  of  the 
Board  as  soon  as  my  place  can  be  supplied.  ...  I 
tremble  at  the  responsibility  I  have  assumed,  but  I  trust 
that  He  who  has  upheld  me  through  many  trials  and 
labors  will  not  forsake  me  here." 

6 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 

It  appears  from  Dr.  Hamlin's  autobiography  that 
what  finally  determined  his  acceptance  of  Mr.  Robert's 
proposals  was  that  he  regarded  the  educational  policy  of 
the  American  Board  as  suicidal,  and  that  the  action  of 
the  Mission  in  accepting  this  policy  and  removing  the 
Mission  Seminary  from  Bebec  to  Marsovan  put  an  end 
to  the  work  to  which  his  whole  missionary  life  had  been 
devoted .  The  proposed  college  would  be  a  continuation 
and  enlargement  of  that  work.^ 

Mr.  Robert  and  Dr.  Hamlin  were  now  both  fully  com- 
mitted to  the  work  of  founding  a  Cliristian  college  in 
Constantinople,  and  it  was  agreed  that  Dr.  Hamlin 
should  come  to  America  to  consult  w  ith  IVIr.  Robert  as 
to  their  plans  and  also  to  secure  additional  funds,  but  it 
was  thought  best  that  he  should  first  secure  a  site  for  the 
College.  This  did  not  prove  to  be  an  easy  task.  At  first, 
the  majority  of  his  advisers,  rather  against  his  judgment, 
favored  a  location  in  old  Stamboul  and  proposed  the  pur- 
chase of  the  old  palace  of  Constantine  Porph;yTogenitus 
on  the  city  wall.  A  meeting  of  the  friends  of  the  College 
at  the  Dutch  Embassy,  in  January,  1860,  finally  ap- 
proved of  the  site  on  the  Bosphorus  near  the  Castle  of 
Europe,  where  the  College  now  stands ;  but  the  owner  of 
this  site,  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha,  then  Turkish  ambassador 
in  Paris,  absolutely  refused  to  sell  at  any  price.  This 
was  a  bitter  disappointment,  but  Dr.  Hamlin  purchased 
what  he  considered  to  be  the  next  best  available  site,  the 
land  on  the  hill  above  the  village  of  Kourou  Tcheshme. 
We  held  this  property  until  1904,  when  I  sold  it  to  the 
Scheik-ul-Islam  for  a  little  less  than  it  cost.  We  had 
never  been  able  to  find  a  buyer  for  it  before,  at  any 
reasonable  price.  When  Dr.  Hamlin  returned  from 
^  *  My  Life  and  Times,  pp.  413,  414. 

7 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

America  a  year  later,  it  was  found  that  Achmet  Vefik 
Pasha  had  returned  from  Paris,  needed  money,  and  was 
willing  to  sell  the  land  at  Roumeli  Hissar.  After  some 
months  of  negotiations,  Dr.  Hamlin,  with  Mr.  Robert's 
approval,  bought  about  half  of  the  lot,  about  six  acres, 
for  sixteen  hundred  pounds  sterling.  Some  years  later, 
1  bought  the  other  half  for  about  eighteen  hundred 
pounds  sterling.  It  was  an  essential  part  of  Dr.  Ham- 
lin's agreement  with  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha  that  no  money 
should  be  paid  for  the  land  until  the  necessary  permis- 
sion had  been  given  to  erect  a  building  upon  it  for  the 
College.  This  was  December  2,1861.  In  March,  1862, 
the  Minister]of  Foreign  Affairs  having  informed  the  Eng- 
lish ambassador  and  the  American  minister  that  the  gov- 
ernment had  given  its  consent  to  the  erection  of  the  Col- 
lege on  this  site,  and  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction 
having  authorized  the  establishment  of  the  College,  the 
money  was  paid  over  to  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha.  Dr.  Ham- 
lin and  his  friends  here  felt  that  they  had  every  reason  to 
be  jubilant.  There  is  no  more  beautiful  site  for  a  college 
anywhere  in  the  world,  and  no  place  on  the  Bosphorus  to 
equal  it.  All  the  city  wondered  that  such  a  site  had  been 
granted  to  an  American  college. 

Dr.  Hamlin  w^ent  to  America  in  the  summer  of  1860, 
and  retiu-ned  in  June,  1861 .  It  was  not  a  favorable  time 
to  raise  money,  as  the  whole  country  was  absorbed  in  the 
conflict  between  the  free  and  the  slave  states,  the  Presi- 
dential election  and  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  but 
he  had  no  little  success  in  awakening  an  interest  in  the 
proposed  college.  Harvard  University  took  it  up  with 
considerable  enthusiasm,  and  it  was  under  its  auspices 
that  he  had  a  very  successful  meeting  in  Boston.  His 
visits  to  England  in  going  and  coming  were  also  of  im- 

8 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 

portance  in  gaining  friends  for  the  College  there.  But  the 
great  object  of  his  visit  was  to  come  to  a  full  understand- 
ing with  Mr.  Robert  as  to  the  character  and  purpose  of 
the  College,  and  to  make  such  arrangements  aswere  pos- 
sible for  its  organization  and  the  erection  of  a  building. 
A  Board  of  Trustees  was  legally  established,  consisting 
of  C.  R.  Robert,  Wm.  A.  Booth,  Milton  Badger,  David 
B.  Coe,  Wm.  L.  Lambert  and  David  Hoadley,  all  per- 
sonal friends  of  Mr.  Robert,  and  I  believe  all  associated 
with  him  in  the  management  of  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society.  Wm.  A.  Booth  was  President,  and 
David  B .  Coe  Secretary  of  the  Board,  and  they  held  their 
offices  until  they  died,  many  years  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Robert.  They  were  his  chosen  advisers  in  everything 
concerning  the  College,  and,  for  years  after  his  death, 
the  trustees  were  always  guided  by  their  judgment. 

In  186-4  they  were  formally  incorporated  by  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  New  York,  under  the  name  of  "  The 
Trustees  of  Robert  College  oj  Constantinople,''  and  the 
College  was  included  with  other  state  institutions  in  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  This  established 
the  legal  status  of  the  College  in  America. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  was  a  great  blow  to  Dr. 
HamUn  and  ^Nlr.  Robert,  but  neither  of  them  was  a  man 
to  turn  back,  when  once  he  had  put  a  hand  to  the  plough, 
and  they  determined  to  go  on  and  put  up  the  building  for 
the  College.  Dr.  Hamlin  spent  much  time  in  preparation 
for  this.  He  interested  Mr.  Corliss  of  Providence  in  it, 
who  gave  him  a  steam-engine  and  other  machinery  for 
use  in  the  woodw^ork  of  the  building.  He  studied  plans 
and  bought  considerable  material.  Most  of  all,  he  and 
Mr.  Robert  came  to  understand  and  trust  each  other,  so 
that  they  could  work  together  harmoniously. 

9 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

As  has  already  been  explained,  Dr.  Hamlin,  on  his  re- 
turn from  America,  abandoned  the  site  which  he  had 
bought  at  Kourou  Tcheshme  and  bought  the  site  at  Rou- 
meli  Hissar.   After  some  delay  he  received  permission  to 
build  on  this  site,  and  believed  that  his  troubles  were 
ended.   This  was  in  March,  1862.   It  proved  to  be  not 
the  end  but  the  beginning  of  serious  trouble.   He  was 
destined  to  wait  more  than  six  years,  until  Decem- 
ber 20,  1868,  before  he  could  begin  work  on  this  site. 
The  new  era  and  the  open  door  in  Turkey  supposed 
to  have  been  won  by  the  Crimean  War  seemed  to 
have  disappeared.     This  change  was  undoubtedly 
due  in  some  measure  to  the  death  of  Sultan  Abd- 
ul-Medjid    and    the   accession   of  Abd-ul-Aziz,  in 
June,  1861,  —  a  man  of  totally  different  character, 
who  soon  changed  the  whole  spirit  of  the  govern- 
ment.    Whatever  else  might  be  said  of  it,  it  was  no 
longer  weak.    It  soon  became  a  strong  government, 
whether  for  good  or  evil.    But  I  think  Dr.  Hamlin 
was  right  in  believing  that  the  opposition  to  the  Col- 
lege did  not  originate  with  the  Turks.    If  left  to 
themselves  they  would  probably  have  regarded  it 
as  a  matter  of  very  little  importance  in  any  way. 
The   powers   that   he   had   to   contend   with   were 
France,  Russia,  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
Their  influence  was  pushed  to  the  utmost  to  prevent 
the  establishment  of  a  college  which  would  promote 
and  extend  the  use  of  the  English  language  and  the 
influence  of  Protestant,  English  and  American,  ideas 
in  the  East.    They  were  formidable  enemies  because 
at  that  time  our  friends  were  weak.    America,  en- 
gaged in  a  great  civil  war,  had  little  influence  here, 
Prussia  and   Holland   were   friendly  but  without 

10 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 

much  influence.  England,  at  the  close  of  the  Cri- 
mean War,  had  lost  her  dominant  position  at  Con- 
stantinople. This  had  been  won  by  France,  and 
under  Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz  Russia  regained  much  of 
her  former  influence  here.  England  was  still  a 
power  to  be  reckoned  with,  but,  at  the  time  when 
the  college  question  came  up,  she  was  represented 
here  by  Sir  Henry  Bulwer,  a  brilliant  but  unprin- 
cipled man,  who  was  ready  to  sacrifice  anything  to 
his  own  personal  interest.  At  first  he  supported  Dr. 
Hamlin,  but  in  the  end  abandoned  his  cause  to  se- 
cure a  bribe  which  finally  cost  him  his  place.  The 
permission  to  build  had  been  granted  through  the 
influence  of  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha,  then  a  minister; 
but,  only  a  few  days  after  it  was  given,  he  was  re- 
moved from  office  and  his  enemies  were  glad  to  do 
him  any  injury  in  their  power. 

Under  these  unpropitious  circumstances,  and  with 
the  forces  arrayed  against  the  College,  it  was  natural 
for  the  Porte  to  oppose  the  erection  of  the  College, 
and  in  Turkey  it  is  always  easy  to  find  excuses  for 
delay.  How  not  to  do  it  is  the  perfection  of  Turkish 
diplomacy.  The  permission  to  build  was  never 
formally  revoked,  but  six  years  of  wearisome  and 
often  exasperating  negotiations  followed.  When 
Lord  Lyons  came  from  Washington  to  the  British 
embassy  here  in  1865,  he  took  up  the  question  with 
vigor,  but  unfortunately  he  was  transferred  to  Paris 
in  eighteen  months.  The  last  thing  that  he  told  me 
before  he  left  was  that  he  had  finally  settled  the  col- 
lege question  with  Aali  Pasha.  If  he  had  remained 
here,  that  would  have  been  the  end  of  it;  but  he  had 
no  sooner  gone  than  a  new  reason  for  delay  was 

11 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

found.  For  Dr.  Hamlin  and  Mr.  Robert  these 
years  were  alternations  of  hope  and  despair.  No- 
thing that  they  could  do  here  or  in  Washington 
seemed  to  be  of  any  avail  and  the  prospect  was 
never  darker  than  in  1868. 

The  final  settlement  was  brought  about  most  un- 
expectedly by  a  providential  combination  of  agen- 
cies, unconsciously  working  together,  and  was  long 
a  mystery  to  Dr.  Hamlin.  The  ball  was  set  in  mo- 
tion by  Mr.  George  D.  Morgan  of  New  York,  a 
gentleman  who  had  never  heard  of  the  proposed 
college  until  he"came  to  Constantinople  as  a  traveler, 
in  the  winter  of  1868.  He  saw  Dr.  Hamlin,  investi- 
gated the  case,  and  was  so  much  interested  that, 
when  he  returned  to  America  a  few  months  later,  he 
went  to  Washington  on  purpose  to  persuade  Mr. 
Seward  to  take  action  in  behalf  of  the  College.  He 
first  interested  Senator  Morgan  and  Mr.  Evarts  in 
the  case,  and  they  three  went  together  to  Mr. 
Seward,  who  had  special  reasons  at  that  time  to 
wish  to  please  them.  He  was  persuaded,  sent  for 
Blacque  Bey,  the  Turkish  minister,  and  pressed  his 
demands  in  such  a  way  that  the  minister  wrote  to 
Constantinople  that  this  question  must  be  settled 
at  once  or  there  would  be  serious  trouble.  This  let- 
ter reached  Constantinople  not  long  before  the  ar- 
rival of  Admiral  Farragut  at  the  Dardanelles,  who 
insisted  upon  coming  up  to  Constantinople  in  his 
flag-ship.  His  appearance  in  these  waters  at  this 
time  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  revolution  in  Crete, 
but  to  the  Turks  it  seemed  suspicious.  They  al- 
lowed him  to  come  to  Constantinople  after  some  de- 
lay, and  received  him  with  great  honors.   To  please 

12 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  ROBERT  COLLEGE 

his  little  son,  now  a  professor  in  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, Dr.  Hamlin  took  him  to  call  on  the  admiral, 
and  by  chance  met  a  gentleman  there  who  knew  him 
well  and  introduced  the  subject  of  the  College  and  its 
difficulties.  The  admiral  was  so  much  stirred  by  the 
injustice  involved  that  he  promised  to  speak  to  the 
Grand  Vizier  about  it  unofficially,  if  he  had  a 
chance.  He  found  his  opportunity  at  a  grand  dinner 
given  in  his  honor,  as  Dr.  Hamlin  afterwards 
learned.  No  one  at  the  College  knew  anything  at 
that  time  of  the  action  of  Mr.  Seward  or  the  dis- 
patch of  Blacque  Bey,  but  the  Turkish  government 
put  all  these  things  together,  and  evidently  believed 
that  Admiral  Farragut's  real  mission  here  was  to 
settle  the  College  question,  with  the  possibility  of  his 
taking  his  ships  to  Crete  in  the  background.  They 
settled  it,  granting  even  more  than  had  been  asked, 
giving  the  College  a  toghrali  trade,  or  imperial  char- 
ter, as  an  American  college  under  the  protection  of 
the  United  States  with  ex- territorial  rights,  and  with 
all  the  privileges  granted  to  educational  institutions 
in  Turkey.  Indeed,  they  were  so  friendly  and  cor- 
dial that  Dr.  Hamlin  wrote  to  Mr.  Robert  that,  in 
case  more  money  were  needed,  he  should  apply  to 
the  Sultan,  who  would  undoubtedly  give  it.  But  he 
never  applied.  The  irade  was  issued  by  the  Sultan 
in  September,  1868,  but  not  communicated  to  the 
United  States  Legation  until  December  20,  1868. 
In  October  Aali  Pasha  informed  the  American  min- 
ister that  Dr.  Hamlin  "could  go  on  and  build  as 
soon  as  he  pleased  and  that  an  irade  would  appear 
in  due  time";  but  Dr.  Hamlin  had  been  deceived  so 
often  that  he  did  not  care  to  act  on  this  intimation. 

13 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEC 

When  it  became  probable  in  the  summer  of  1862 
that  the  contest  over  the  site  at  Hissar  would  be  a 
long  one,  Mr.  Robert  and  Dr.  Hamlin  began  at  once 
to  consider  the  possibility  of  opening  the  College 
elsewhere.  The  building  belonging  to  the  mission 
at  Bebec,  the  suburban  village  on  the  Bosphorus 
just  below  Hissar,  where  Dr.  Hamlin  had  for  many 
years  conducted  the  Mission  school,  was  vacant, 
and  no  further  permission  from  the  government  was 
necessary  to  open  the  College  there.  The  American 
Board  at  Boston  offered  it  rent  free.  Dr.  Hamlin 
made  extensive  repairs,  and  the  College  was  opened 
there  September  16,  1863,  with  4  students,  3  Eng- 
lish and  1  American,  all  residents  of  Constantinople. 
Two  professors  had  been  appointed  in  1862,  Rev. 
H.  A.  Schauffler  and  Rev.  G.  A.  Perkins,  and  Mr. 
Robert  had  sent  one  to  Germany  and  one  to  Yale 
to  complete  their  preparation  for  the  work  in  the 
College.  They  were  present  at  the  opening,  and 
three  or  four  native  assistants  had  also  been  em- 
ployed. Before  going  to  Germany  Professor  Schauf- 
fler raised  twenty-one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars 
towards  the  foundation  of  a  library  for  the  College, 
and  Harvard  University  contributed  some  two  hun- 
dred volumes.  Mr.  Corliss  of  Providence,  Mr.  B. 
M.  E.  Durfee  of  Fall  River,  Mr.  Wheelwright  of 

14 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEG 

London,  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Whitin  of  Whitinsville 
added  to  this  fund,  so  that  when  the  College  went 
to  Roumeli  Ilissar  the  library  contained  some  five 
thousand  volumes.  It  now  (1907)  contains  over 
twelve  thousand  volumes,  has  a  card  catalogue  and 
is  open  to  students  every  day. 

Before  issuing  a  prospectus  Dr.  Hamlin  felt  that 
it  was  necessary  to  give  a  name  to  the  College,  and 
his  advisory  committee  discussed  the  question  with- 
out reaching  any  satisfactory  conclusion,  although 
many  names  were  suggested.  Mr.  Robert  had 
called  it  the  American  College,  but  this  was  rejected 
on  the  ground  that  it  had  a  political  significance. 
Finally  Dr.  Hamlin  proposed  Robert  College  as  a 
neutral  name,  which  could  be  spelled  in  all  the  lan- 
guages of  the  East.^  This  was  adopted  with  accla- 
mation. Mr.  Robert  protested  against  it  as  unwise 
and  contrary  to  all  his  principles,  but  Dr.  Hamlin 
replied  that  it  was  too  late  to  change  it.  The  name 
had  already  been  adopted  in  all  the  languages  and 
was  universally  accepted  as  the  best. 

The  discussion  of  the  character,  organization  and 
curriculum  of  the  College  commenced  in  1859.  Mr. 
Robert  wrote  June  27,  1859:  "In  my  judgment 
the  time  has  come  for  you  in  connection  with  some 
of  your  wisest  associates  and  any  others  in  whom 
you  may  think  dwells  the  spirit  of  true  wisdom  to 
draw  out  the  plan  of  a  college,  taking  as  a  pattern 
the  best  in  our  country  as  to  the  course  of  study, 
government.  Faculty,  etc.  The  beginning  of  course 
must  be  small  but  let  the  plan  be  such  that  it  can  be 

*  This  is  more  important  than  it  may  appear.  My  name,  for 
example,  cannot  be  spelled  in  any  of  these  languages. 

15 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

enlarged  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  community  in 
which  it  is  situated.  The  foundations  therefore 
must  be  broad  and  deep,  but  looking  to  a  gradual 
execution  of  the  plan  in  its  completeness.  A  rapid 
and  hasty  growth  must  not  be  expected  or  desired." 

The  religious  status  of  the  College  was  made  clear 
in  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  trustees.  It  was 
to  be  unsectarian  and  open  to  all  without  distinction 
of  race  or  religion.  It  did  not  aim  to  destroy  or 
weaken  the  ancient  Christian  churches  of  the  East, 
but  to  develop  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  its 
students,  their  faith  in  God  and  their  purpose  to 
obey  his  law.  The  constitution  states  that  "it  is  to 
be  founded  and  administered  on  the  principles  of 
the  Bible :  it  is  hereby  declared  and  ordained  that, 
while  it  is  to  be  a  scientific  and  literary  institution, 
God  and  His  word  shall  be  distinctly  acknowledged 
and  honored  therein:  the  Scriptures,  as  published 
by  the  American  or  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
cieties being  read  and  prayers  offered  at  least  once 
each  day  of  each  collegiate  term,  and  Divine  wor- 
ship held  on  the  Sabbath,  at  which  services  the 
Faculty  are  expected  to  be  present,  and  all  the  stu- 
dents shall  attend  unless  for  special  and  imperative 
reasons  some  are  excused  by  the  Faculty  and 
teachers." 

Dr.  Hamlin  replied  at  great  length  to  Mr.  Rob- 
ert's letter  of  June  27,  proposing  in  substance  Eng- 
lish as  the  language  of  the  College,  Preparatory 
and  Collegiate  Departments,  a  governing  Board  of 
Trustees  in  New  York,  a  local  Board  of  Managers 
(or  Advisers  he  wrote  later)  at  Constantinople,  a 
Faculty  of  a  president  and  three  professors,  a  course 

16 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEG 

of  study  essentially  the  same  as  in  American  col- 
leges, with  the  omission  of  Latin  and  Greek  and  the 
addition  of  French  and  the  native  languages,  with 
some  legal  studies. 

There  were  two  special  reasons  for  making  Eng- 
lish the  language  of  the  College.  It  was  necessary 
to  have  a  neutral  common  language  for  students  of 
many  races  and  tongues  and  this  could  only  be  some 
European  language.  Among  these  it  was  natural 
for  us  to  choose  English.  Moreover,  there  were  no 
text  books  to  be  had  in  any  native  language  and  no 
means  of  pursuing  any  science  or  other  subject  such 
as  was  offered  by  the  literature  of  England  and 
America.  The  use  of  English  has  attracted  many 
students  to  the  College  for  its  own  sake. 

Mr.  Robert  objected  to  the  exclusion  of  the  clas- 
sics, and  since  the  second  year's  graduates  in  1869 
Latin  has  always  been  required  for  the  degree  of 
A.  B.  Otherwise  the  European  universities  would 
have  refused  to  recognize  our  diplomas.  The  local 
Board  of  Managers  was  organized  and  was  probably 
useful  for  a  time,  but  died  a  natural  death  in  a  few 
years.  Dr.  Hamlin  proposed  to  confine  the  study  of 
the  native  languages  to  the  Preparatory  Department, 
but  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  give  them  special 
prominence  and  continue  them  through  the  whole 
course.  This  helps  the  College  to  give  a  thorough 
education  to  students  of  different  nationalities  with- 
out denationalizing  them  or  unfitting  them  to  be- 
come the  leaders  of  their  own  people. 

Dr.  Hamlin  was  not  discouraged  by  the  small 
number  of  students  the  first  year,  1863-64.  Before 
the  close  of  the  year  20  had  been  registered,  all  but 

17 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

2  Europeans  or  Americans.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
year  2  Greeks  came. 

The  second  year,  1864-65,  opened  with  23  stu- 
dents, and  28  in  all  were  registered  during  the  year, 
of  whom  4  were  Greeks,  1  Armenian  and  1  Bulga- 
rian. This  year  was  a  very  trying  one  for  Mr.  Rob- 
ert and  Dr.  Hamlin,  aside  from  the  troubles  in 
regard  to  the  site.  The  two  professors  constituted  a 
majority  in  the  Faculty,  and  even  during  the  first  year 
there  were  serious  differences  of  opinion  between 
them  and  Dr.  Hamlin  as  to  the  management  and 
discipline  of  the  College.  These  culminated  early  in 
the  second  year,  and  the  trustees  were  called  upon 
to  decide  whether  to  accept  the  resignation  of  Dr. 
Hamlin  or  of  the  two  professors.  They  did  the 
latter,  and  Dr.  Hamlin  was  left  alone  in  the  middle 
of  the  year  to  carry  on  the  College  as  best  he  could 
with  his  native  assistants. 

In  addition  to  this  diflSculty  Dr.  Hamlin  had  to 
expel  for  immorality  four  students  belonging  to  the 
best  European  families  in  the  city,  and  this  stirred  up 
new  enmity  against  the  College.  One  peculiarly 
Eastern  method  of  injuring  an  enemy  was  experi- 
enced during  the  year.  Some  one  secretly  intro- 
duced into  the  dormitories  a  piece  of  an  old  garment 
swarming  with  lice,  which  was  not  discovered  until 
the  evil  had  spread  among  the  boys. 

The  year  closed  with  one  of  those  terrible  calami- 
ties which  used  to  be  so  common  in  Constantinople. 
The  Asiatic  cholera  carried  off  some  seventy  thou- 
sand persons  in  three  months.  The  College  was 
closed  early,  before  there  had  been  any  cases  in 
Bebec,  and  Dr.  Hamlin  and  his  family  went  to  the 

18 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEG 

Princes  Islands  to  regain  his  health.  lie  was  suffer- 
ing from  insomnia  and  nervous  prostration.  I  re- 
mained in  Bebec,  and  one  of  my  sons,  about  two 
years  old,  was  the  first  victim  of  the  epidemic  there, 
after  which  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  devoted  our- 
selves to  the  care  of  the  sick  in  the  village  for  two 
months.  I  had  to  go  to  town  frequently  to  attend 
to  my  work  there,  where  Dr.  Long  and  Mr.  Trow- 
bridge had  given  themselves  entirely  to  the  care  of 
the  sick  in  the  public  khans.  It  would  require  the 
pen  of  a  De  Quincey  to  describe  the  scenes  which  I 
witnessed,  pathetic,  grotesque,  horrible,  a  dance  of 
death  among  men  who  had  lost  their  hold  upon  the 
humanities  of  life. 

The  epidemic  passed  away  with  a  great  fire  in 
Constantinople  which  consumed  some  ten  thousand 
houses  and  seemed  to  disinfect  the  city. 

What  with  the  cholera  and  the  fire  it  was  not 
strange  that  the  third  college  year,  1865-66, 
opened  with  only  8  students.  The  number  grad- 
ually increased,  and  the  whole  number  registered 
was  51,  of  whom  20  were  Armenians,  9  Bulgarians 
and  6  Greeks. 

In  place  of  the  two  professors  Mr.  Robert  sent 
out  two  tutors,  Messrs.  Ostrander  and  Rodger,  for 
a  period  of  three  years.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
a  plan  which  has  continued  in  force  all  through  the 
history  of  the  College.  In  the  Appendix  of  this 
volume  will  be  found  a  paper  which  was  drawn  up 
by  Mr.  Robert  and  sent  by  him  to  the  colleges  where 
he  was  seeking  candidates  for  this  position.  I  think 
that  this  is  the  latest  form  of  it.  He  had  modified  it 
from  time  to  time  as  his  practical  experience  with 

19 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

the  men  sent  out  suggested  weaknesses  to  be  avoided. 
I  remember  when  he  inserted  the  clause  not  conscien- 
tiously obstinate.  It  is  well  worth  reading,  not  only 
as  illustrating  Mr.  Robert's  character  but  also  his 
idea  of  the  work  which  the  College  ought  to  do. 

Probably  his  ideal  was  never  realized  in  any  one 
tutor;  in  fact,  one  college  president  wrote  to  him 
that  no  such  men  existed  in  this  world,  but  many  of 
those  who  have  filled  this  position  in  the  College  have 
been  men  of  rare  ability  and  the  highest  character. 
Their  personal  influence  over  the  students  has  been 
a  very  important  factor  in  the  work  of  the  College, 
as  they  lived  with  the  students  and  came  into  more 
intimate  relations  with  them  than  was  possible  to 
the  professors.  It  is  the  almost  unanimous  testi- 
mony of  the  men  who  have  filled  these  positions 
that  their  years  spent  in  the  College  were  the  most 
fruitful  years  in  their  preparation  for  their  life-work. 
They  gained  here  new  and  broader  conceptions  of 
life,  of  the  world  as  a  whole  and  of  men  and  in- 
dividuals, besides  enjoying  rare  opportunities  for 
study  and  travel. 

The  names  of  all  the  professors  and  American 
tutors  who  were  connected  with  the  College  during 
the  first  forty  years  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  year  Dr.  Hamlin  secured 
the  services  of  an  English  lady,  Mrs.  Julia  Calluci, 
as  matron  of  the  College. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War  in  America  and  the  final  triumph  of  the  na- 
tional government  added  much  to  the  prestige  of 
the  College  among  the  people  here  and  was  one 
cause  of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  students. 

20 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEG 

It  was  also  a  great  relief  and  great  joy  to  Mr.  Rob- 
ert and  Dr.  Hamlin.  They  were  men  of  strong  con- 
victions and  deep  feeling,  devoted  patriots,  whose 
hearts  were  bound  up  in  this  struggle  for  national 
life  and  freedom  for  the  slave.  Their  letters  are  full 
of  it,  and  when  peace  came  a  great  burden  was  re- 
moved from  their  minds  and  hearts. 

Mr.  Robert  at  once  interested  himself  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  poor  whites  in  the  South,  bought  the 
United  States  Hospital  buildings,  with  the  land  and 
furniture,  on  Lookout  Mountain  near  Chattanooga, 
Tenn.,  and  established  a  school  there  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Bancroft,  who  in  later  years  became 
the  famous  principal  of  Phillips  Academy,  Andover. 
Mr.  Robert's  letters  show  that  his  interest  in  this 
school  was  quite  as  great  as  his  interest  in  Robert 
College. 

The  fourth  college  year,  1866-67,  opened  with  a 
large  increase  of  students.  The  whole  number  reg- 
istered during  the  year  w^as  96,  of  whom  19  were 
Armenians,  13  Bulgarians  and  18  Greeks.  There 
was  nothing  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  year  but  a 
terrific  storm  of  which  Dr.  Hamlin  gives  a  graphic 
account  in  his  letters  and  which  very  nearly  swept 
the  college  building  into  the  Bosphorus. 

Dr.  Hamlin's  sympathies  were  deeply  stirred 
during  the  year  by  the  long  and  serious  illness  of 
two  of  the  students,  one  of  whom,  a  very  promising 
Bulgarian,  died,  and  the  other,  a  German,  was  dis- 
abled, so  that  he  was  a  cripple  for  life,  although  he 
finally  recovered  so  far  as  to  graduate  in  1869. 

One  of  the  questions  much  discussed  during  the 
year  and  in  regard  to  which  Mr.  Robert  and  Dr. 

^1 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Hamlin  never  agreed  was  that  of  beneficiaries,  of  re- 
ceiving a  certain  number  of  students  at  a  reduced 
rate.  To  satisfy  Dr.  Hamlin  the  trustees  in  1864 
voted  that  "the  President  select  any  number,  not 
exceeding  six,  talented  youth  of  high  moral  charac- 
ter, one  from  each  of  the  large  nationalities  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  who  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  of 
the  College  by  paying  one-fourth  to  three-fourths 
of  the  ordinary  charges."  In  1867  it  was  added 
that  "those  so  received  should  sign  a  pledge  that 
they  will  diligently  pursue  the  prescribed  course 
of  instruction  not  less  than  three  years."  In  fact, 
a  much  larger  number  had  been  received  by  Dr. 
Hamlin  and  he  also  rejected  the  last  regulation  as 
"needless,  useless  and  injurious."  In  1868  one- 
fourth  of  the  students  were  beneficiaries  and  the 
amount  deducted  for  them  from  the  regular  charges 
was  about  twenty-five  hundred  dollars,  about  five 
hundred  dollars  of  which  was  specially  contributed 
for  this  purpose  by  friends  in  England  and  America. 
Dr.  Hamlin  writes:  "Both  for  scholarship  and  char- 
acter the  students  thus  aided  are  the  glory  of  the 
College.    Of  four  prizes  these  men  won  three." 

The  intensity  of  Dr.  Hamlin's  feeling  on  this  sub- 
ject will  be  appreciated  when  we  remember  that  his 
chief  ambition  was  to  make  the  College  self-support- 
ing, and  that  his  own  salary  at  this  time  was  only 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  a  year  and 
the  board  of  his  family  in  the  College,  a  salary  fixed 
by  himself  against  the  protest  of  Mr.  Robert. 

Serious  efforts  have  since  been  made  to  raise  a 
substantial  fund  for  beneficiaries  but  with  limited 
success,  and  the  College  has  regularly  expended  from 

22 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEC 

two  thousand  to  three  thousand  dollars  a  year  from 
its  common  funds  for  this  purpose.  It  is  under- 
stood however  that  we  do  not  receive  free  students, 
and  the  aid  given  depends  on  scholarship  and  con- 
duct. 

Dr.  Hamlin,  in  his  annual  report,  writes  very  con- 
fidently of  the  steady  improvement  in  the  character 
and  intellectual  progress  of  the  students  and  very 
hopefully  of  the  religious  influence  of  the  College. 
No  difficulties  had  arisen  from  the  religious  services 
or  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  in  classes,  and  the  stu- 
dents seemed  interested  in  both. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  the  trustees  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Mr.  Robert  voted  to  invite  Dr.  Hamlin 
to  visit  Paris  during  the  great  Exposition  and  appro- 
priated five  hundred  dollars  to  meet  his  expenses. 
He  went  there  and  also  attended  the  meeting  of  the 
Evangelical  Alliance  in  Holland.  He  enjoyed  this 
trip  very  much,  especially  the  opportunity  he  had 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  many  distinguished 
men  and  to  purchase  in  Paris  some  new  and  inter- 
esting scientific  apparatus  for  the  College. 

He  returned  by  way  of  the  Danube  to  escape 
quarantine,  and  Messrs.  Paine,  Grosvenor  and 
Wilcox,  the  new  American  teachers,  came  with  him. 
As  none  of  them  had  passports  they  w^ere  arrested 
when  they  reached  Turkish  territory  at  Rustchuk. 
Dr.  Hamlin  got  through  on  the  ground  that  he 
belonged  to  the  suite  of  the  Dutch  ambassador's 
wife  who  had  come  with  him  from  Holland,  but  the 
tutors  were  held  until  Dr.  Hamlin  could  get  orders 
at  Constantinople  to  allow  them  to  come  on. 

This  fourth  year  of  Robert  College  was  the  first 

28 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

year  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  founded  at 
Beirut  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Daniel  Bliss, 
an  old  college-mate  and  dear  friend  of  mine.  It 
was  the  first  fruit  of  the  influence  of  Robert  College 
in  leading  to  the  foundation  of  similar  institutions 
in  all  mission  fields,  and  it  was  incorporated  in  the 
state  of  New  York  in  the  same  act  with  Robert 
College.  Dr.  Bliss  had  been  in  America  and  in 
England  since  1862  to  raise  funds  for  it.  The  first 
class  of  16  entered  in  1866.  It  has  been  a  trium- 
phant success,  although  like  Robert  College  it  has 
passed  through  many  trying  experiences. 

The  fifth  college  year,  1867-68,  opened  with  a 
full  number  of  students.  One  hundred  and  two 
were  registered  during  the  year,  of  whom  14  were 
Armenians,  16  Bulgarians,  33  Greeks,  but  Dr. 
Hamlin  in  his  report  at  the  close  of  the  year  com- 
plains that  many,  especially  of  the  Greek  day 
scholars,  "  came  only  to  try  it.  Not  liking  it,  after 
a  few  lessons  half  learned,  they  left,"  so  that  at  the 
end  of  the  year  there  were  but  75  students  present. 
He  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  work  done 
by  Messrs.  Grosvenor  and  Wilcox,  the  new  tutors. 

The  College  bore  fruit  this  year  of  a  very  different 
kind  from  the  sister  college  at  Beirut.  The  French 
ambassador  here  and  M.  Bore,  the  Director  General 
of  the  Jesuit  Missions,  had  failed  to  prevent  the 
opening  of  Robert  College;  but  they  took  advantage 
of  the  visit  of  Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz  to  Paris  in  1867 
to  induce  the  Emperor  Napoleon  to  extract  a  prom- 
ise from  the  Sultan  that  on  his  return  to  Constanti- 
nople he  would  found  a  grand  Lycee,  the  teachers 
in  which  should  be  appointed  by  the  Emperor,  the 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEG 

language  should  be  French  and  the  whole  cost 
should  be  paid  by  the  Turkish  government.  In 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Turks,  the  Russians 
and  the  English,  the  French  government  had  in- 
fluence enough  to  hold  the  Sultan  to  his  promise. 
The  Lycee  of  Galata  Serai  was  opened  in  1868  in 
magnificent  buildings,  on  a  site  unsurpassed  in 
beauty  by  any  other  in  Pera.  Everything  was  done 
to  make  it  attractive  in  every  way  and  provision 
was  made  for  six  hundred  students.  The  Emperor 
sent  out  a  distinguished  and  experienced  man  as 
director  with  a  large  staff  of  able  professors.  Both 
our  friends  and  our  enemies  felt  that  this  would  be 
the  end  of  Robert  College,  especially  as  provision 
was  made  in  the  Lycee  for  a  large  number  of  free 
students.  Dr.  Hamlin  was  anxious  but  not  disheart- 
ened, and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  Lycee 
of  Galata  Serai  or  any  other  of  the  numerous 
schools  that  have  since  been  established  in  Con- 
stantinople has  seriously  affected  the  work  of 
Robert  College.  The  fall  of  the  French  Empire 
and  the  decline  of  French  influence  in  Turkey  led 
to  great  changes  in  the  character  of  the  Lycee. 
The  language  is  still  French  and  there  are  some 
eight  hundred  students,  but  it  has  long  been  a  Turk- 
ish rather  than  a  French  school.  It  was  destroyed 
by  fire  last  winter  (1907)  but  is  to  be  rebuilt. 

There  was  considerable  correspondence  during 
the  year  between  Mr.  Robert  and  Dr.  Hamlin  in 
regard  to  the  organization  and  the  discipline  of  the 
College,  suggested  in  some  measure  by  troubles 
which  had  been  experienced  at  Lookout  Mountain. 
Dr.  Hamlin  did  not  think  that  it  was  desirable  to 

25 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

attempt  a  systematic  classification  of  the  students, 
but  preferred  to  deal  with  them  individually.  At 
the  close  of  the  year  he  selected  two  of  them,  Hago- 
pos  Djedjizian,  an  Armenian,  who  had  been  two 
years  in  the  College,  and  Petco  Gorbanoff,  a  Bul- 
garian, who  had  been  there  three  years,  to  graduate 
and  received  the  degree  of  A.  B.  He  justified  this 
action  in  a  detailed  statement  of  the  acquirements 
of  the  two  young  men,  each  far  advanced  in  certain 
studies  and  far  behind  in  others,  but  both  mature 
in  age  and  character.  Both  of  them  became  teach- 
ers in  the  College  the  following  year.  The  former 
has  long  been  a  professor  in  the  College.  The 
latter  has  held  many  important  posts  in  Bulgaria. 

The  first  "Commencement  Exercises"  of  the 
College  were  held  at  the  close  of  the  public  oral 
examination  of  the  various  classes,  which  in  former 
years  had  attracted  considerable  attention.  This 
year  the  audience  was  as  large  as  could  be  accom- 
modated, and  all  were  enthusiastic  over  the  orations 
of  the  two  graduates  and  the  speaking  of  other 
students  in  Turkish,  Armenian,  Bulgarian  and 
French.  The  diplomas  given  were  unique,  long 
sheets  of  parchment,  on  which  the  conferring  of 
the  degrees  was  written,  in  fancy  penmanship,  in 
four  languages  —  English,  French,  Turkish  and 
Armenian  or  Bulgarian.  I  believe  that  similar 
diplomas  were  given  in  1869. 

The  sixth  college  year  opened  with  80  students, 
and  95  in  all  were  registered  during  the  year,  of 
whom  11  were  Armenians,  41  Bulgarians,  17 
Greeks. 

The  all  absorbing  event  of  the  year,  which  trans- 

26 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEC 

formed  Dr.  Hamlin  from  an  educator  into  an  archi- 
tect, builder  and  mechanic,  was  the  permission  to 
build  at  Hissar,  which  was  given  informally  at 
the  beginning  of  October  and  officially  December 
20,  1868.  In  the  evening  of  that  day  a  general 
meeting  of  thanksgiving  was  held  at  the  College  and 
Dr.  Hamlin  writes,  "It  is  a  great  triumph  of  right 
over  wrong,  and  the  Providence  of  God  in  bringing 
it  about  is  truly  wonderful  and  demands  our  warm- 
est gratitude  and  daily  thanksgiving."  All  Con- 
stantinople had  come  to  have  an  interest  in  this  pro- 
longed contest,  and  it  had  long  been  predicted  that 
the  College  would  fail  in  its  efforts  to  overcome  the 
vis  inertice  of  the  Porte.  They  regarded  Dr.  Ham- 
lin's final  triumph  with  wonder  and  admiration. 

Dr.  Hamlin  was  determined  to  put  up  the  college 
building  himself  without  the  aid  or  interference  of 
any  architect  or  builder,  and  I  suppose  that  no  one 
who  reads  his  autobiography  is  surprised  when  he 
finds  him  undertaking  this  work.  He  would  say: 
"  It  was  just  like  him.  He  was  that  sort  of  a  boy  and 
man."  He  firmly  believed  that  he  could  erect  a 
better  building  at  a  less  cost  than  any  one  else,  and 
he  undertook  this  Herculean  task  with  a  light 
heart.  After  the  middle  of  the  year  he  did  not  at- 
tempt to  do  any  work  in  the  College  at  Bebec  except 
in  the  evening.  He  commenced  excavations  on  the 
site  April  7,  1869.  All  the  teachers  and  students 
with  many  friends  were  present,  and,  after  speeches 
in  eleven  languages,  each  one  in  turn  took  a  spade, 
filled  a  barrow  with  earth  and  wheeled  it  away. 
In  May,  1869,  he  received  a  visit  from  Mr.  W.  A. 
Booth,  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  in 

27 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

consultation  with  him  made  some  changes  in  his 
plans.   By  Monday,  July  5,  he  was  ready  to  lay 
the  corner  stone.   The  day  was  unfavorable.    Mrs. 
Hamlin  was  very  ill,  and  there  was  a  pouring  rain 
all  the  morning,  but  quite  an  assembly  gathered  on 
the  grounds  and  there  were  appropriate  addresses 
in   five   languages.    The   ceremony   of   laying   the 
stone  was  performed  by  Hon.  E.  Joy  Morris,  the 
American  minister.    Sir  Philip  Francis,  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Consular  Court,  and  Canon  Gribble, 
Chaplain  of  the  British  Embassy,  represented  Eng- 
land   and    made    sympathetic    addresses.    It    was 
nearly  two  years  before  the  building  was  ready  for 
occupation.    During  those  years,  while  the  work  of 
construction  was  going  on.  Dr.  Hamlin  was  always 
at  Hissar,  but  one  never  knew  where  to  find  him. 
He  might  be  in  the  water  at  the  bottom  of  the  well 
mending  the  force  pump,  or  at  the  top  of  the  build- 
ing standing  on  an  iron  girder  with  forty  feet  of 
empty  space  below  him.    He  might  be  setting  up  a 
steam-engine  or  doctoring  a  horse  or  teaching  his 
masons  how  to  lay  stone.    He  might  be  entertaining 
some  Turkish  gentleman  or  using  his  rich  vocabu- 
lary of  invective  on  some  wild  Kurdish  laborer. 
He  made  a  sort  of  hut  for  himself  in  a  pile  of  lum- 
ber near  the  building,  and  you  might  find  him  there 
taking  a  five  minutes'  nap  in  his  chair  or  sharing 
his  meagre  lunch  with  a  tailless  green  lizard  which 
had  made  friends  with  him.    If  you  came  at  the 
right  time,  you  might  be  treated  to  a  delicious  cup 
of  coffee  made  by  himself.   You  might  see  him 
losing  his  own  fingers  as  he  stumbled  on  to  a  buzz- 
saw  or  tenderly  dressing  the  wounds  of  some  un- 

28 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEC 

fortunate  workman.  Wherever  you  found  him,  you 
saw  that  his  whole  mind  and  heart  was  concentrated 
upon  the  building.  He  had  endless  difficulties,  but 
was  never  discouraged  and  never  daunted  by  any 
new  and  unthought-of  problem  which  presented 
itself  in  the  building.  I  think  that  those  were  the 
happiest  days  of  his  life. 

I  shall  have  much  to  say  of  Dr.  Hamlin  in  my 
personal  recollections  of  the  College  after  I  came 
into  it  a  few  weeks  before  the  close  of  the  sixth 
year,  in  June,  1869,  but  it  seems  desirable  to  preface 
this  by  a  brief  statement  of  dates  and  details  drawn 
from  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Robert  and  Dr. 
Hamlin,  which  do  not  directly  relate  to  the  work  in 
the  College  and  which  may  also  supplement  the 
statements  in  his  autobiography. 

After  a  full  discussion  of  the  situation  wuth  Mr. 
Robert  he  went  to  America  in  September,  1871,  to 
raise  an  endowment  for  the  College,  leaving  his 
family  in  Bebec.  He  returned  to  Constantinople  in 
June,  1872,  and  remained  here  until  October,  1873, 
and  while  here  he  erected  the  Study  Hall  annex  to 
Hamlin  Hall,  which  was  a  temporary  structure,  but 
which  served  its  purpose  until  1906.  In  October, 
1873,  he  went  to  America  w4th  his  family  to  con- 
tinue the  work  of  raising  an  endowment  and  never 
returned.  In  1877  he  resigned  the  office  of  presi- 
dent of  the  College. 

His  letters  to  Mr.  Robert  bring  out  still  more 
strongly  than  his  autobiography  his  utter  aversion 
to  the  work  of  raising  money,  and  his  ill  success 
strengthened  this  feeling;  while  Mr.  Robert,  who 
was  a  man  of  moderate  means,  never  a  millionaire, 

29 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

I  believe,  as  the  expenses  of  the  College  increased, 
was  more  and  more  impressed  with  the  necessity 
of  an  endowment  and  with  the  belief  that  Dr.  Ham- 
lin was  the  only  man  who  could  raise  it. 

As  early  as  August  21,  1867,  Dr.  Hamlin  pro- 
posed to  Mr.  Robert  that  as  soon  as  Robert  College 
was  well  under  way  he  should  give  himself  to  the 
founding  of  a  college  for  girls  at  Constantinople. 
He  writes:  "It  is  not  desirable  that  Robert  College 
should  remain  in  my  hands  after  age  begins  to  dim 
the  eye  and  abate  the  natural  force.  I  should  then 
ruin  it  and  I  pray  God  in  His  infinite  wisdom  and 
mercy  to  keep  me  from  it.  I  fear  it  now,  but  per- 
haps after  a  few  more  years  I  shall  begin  to  think 
myself  the  only  man  who  can  carry  it  forward.  In 
a  female  seminary  I  should  not  be  exposed  to  any- 
thing of  that  sort.  The  work  itself  is  necessary  to 
the  completeness  of  Robert  College.  The  two  in- 
stitutions should  have  no  connection  with  each 
other,  but  naturally  female  education  should  and 
must  have  a  certain  correspondency  to  that  of  the 
other  sex.  This  has  long  been  in  my  mind,  but 
the  time  has  not  yet  come  for  more  than  the  men- 
tioning of  it." 

Dr.  Hamlin  pressed  this  plan  upon  Mr.  Robert 
frequently  in  special  letters  and  in  1874  almost  per- 
suaded him  to  agree  to  his  giving  his  time  to  raising 
money  for  this  object  rather  than  for  Robert  Col- 
lege. It  was  due  in  some  measure  to  his  influence 
that  the  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  in  Boston 
took  the  matter  up  and  founded  a  school  which 
finally  developed  into  the  American  College  for 
Girls  at  Scutari,  a  part  of  Constantinople  situated 

30 


CYRUS    HAMLIN 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  BEBEC 

on  the  Asiatic  shore  of  the  Bosphorus.  Dr.  Hamlin, 
however,  writes  to  Mr.  Robert  in  August,  1873,  that 
**a  girls'  college  in  Constantinople  should  have  no 
connection  with  any  missionary  society,  but  be 
governed  by  a  corporate  board  like  that  of  Robert 
College,  with  no  woman  in  it,  unless  insisted  on  by 
the  donor  or  donors  and  then  I  would  weep  in 
secret  places  over  the  necessity.  As  a  general  thing 
woman  has  not,  and  I  pray  she  may  never  have, 
the  business  education  that  would  fit  her  for  such 
duties." 

Mr.  Robert  finally  insisted  on  Dr.  Hamlin's  de- 
voting himself  exclusively  to  the  work  of  Robert 
College,  and  he  reluctantly  consented.  What  Mr. 
Robert  thought  of  Dr.  Hamlin  at  that  time  may  be 
gathered  from  a  letter  written  to  me  in  November, 
1874.  *'If  I  do  not  greatly  mistake,  those  who 
come  after  us,  fifty  or  one  hundred  years  hence,  will 
see  more  clearly  than  we  ever  shall  that  those  who 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  College  were  guided  by 
the  wisdom  that  cometh  down  from  above.  Al- 
though Dr.  Hamlin  is  now  highly  appreciated  by 
those  who  know  him  best  it  is  only  an  index  of  far 
greater  honor  that  will  be  showered  on  his  name 
in  after  generations." 

The  following  years  up  to  1877  were  very  trying 
ones  to  both  Dr.  Hamlin  and  Mr.  Robert.  Dr. 
Hamlin  had  labored  in  vain  to  raise  an  endowment, 
and  now  he  felt  that  the  great  crisis  of  revolution 
and  war  in  Turkey  had  made  his  task  hopeless. 
No  one  who  has  had  experience  in  such  work  can 
fail  to  sympathize  with  his  feeling  that  he  could 
endure  it  no  longer,  and,  this  given  up,  he  felt  that 

31 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

he  had  no  place  and  no  work  in  America.  Mr. 
Robert  was  broken  down  in  health.  The  troubles 
in  Constantinople  threatened  the  very  existence  of 
the  College,  and  the  burden  of  expense,  with  yearly 
increasing  deficits,  was  greater  than  he  was  able  to 
meet.  No  one  who  has  ever  found  himself  weighted 
w^ith  a  burden  too  heavy  for  him  to  carry,  but  which 
could  not  be  thrown  off,  can  fail  to  sympathize  with 
him.  Rightly  or  wrongly,  he  felt  that,  in  the  interest 
of  the  College,  it  was  not  wise  for  Dr.  Hamlin  to 
return  to  Constantinople  at  that  time.  The  ques- 
tion was  discussed  between  them  several  times,  and 
in  June,  1877,  Dr.  Hamlin  resigned  the  place  of 
president  and  accepted  an  appointment  for  one 
year  in  Bangor  Theological  Seminary.  He  and  Mr. 
Robert  kept  up  a  constant  correspondence  during 
the  year,  and  October  23,  1877,  Mr.  Robert  wrote 
to  Dr.  Long,  then  acting  as  director  of  the  College, 
"I  suppose  that  the  faculty  at  Bangor  will  wish  to 
make  his  appointment  permanent,  but  I  have  not 
much  fear  that  he  will  stay  if  the  College  needs  his 
services  next  year,  as  I  hope  that  it  will." 

The  office  of  president  was  not  filled  until  June, 
1878,  just  as  Mr.  Robert  was  leaving  for  Europe, 
broken  down  in  health,  to  die  a  few  months  later 
in  Paris.  Dr.  Hamlin  remained  in  Bangor  to  the 
sincere  regret  of  his  old  associates  in  the  College  at 
Constantinople. 


32 


CHAPTER   III 

LAST  TWO    YEARS    AT   BEBEC.    1869-1871 

I  CAME  to  Constantinople  in  1858  as  treasurer  of 
the  Missions  of  the  American  Board,  and  up  to 
1869  my  connection  with  the  College  was  only  in- 
cidental. When  Dr.  Hamlin  went  to  America  in 
1860  he  left  me  in  charge  of  a  well  to  be  dug  on  the 
Kourou  Tcheshme  lot.  After  going  down  about 
one  hundred  feet  through  solid  rock  without  finding 
water  I  gave  it  up,  and  there  it  remains  to  this  day. 

When  Dr.  Hamlin  was  left  alone  by  the  resigna- 
tion of  the  two  professors,  1865,  I  taught  several 
classes  until  the  end  of  the  college  year.  W^hen  he 
was  trying  to  secure  permission  to  build  at  Hissar 
I  was  living  in  Pera,  and  for  about  two  years  I  had 
charge  of  all  the  negotiations  with  the  American 
Legation  and  with  the  British  Embassy.  We  de- 
pended chiefly  at  that  time  upon  Lord  Lyons,  who 
had  just  come  from  Washington,  who  was  an  en- 
thusiastic friend  of  America  and  who  saw  clearly 
that  Robert  College  would  strengthen  English  in- 
fluence in  Turkey.  Dr.  Hamlin  was  so  disgusted 
with  what  he  felt  to  be  a  want  of  sympathy  on  the 
part  of  the  American  minister  that  he  had  broken 
off  personal  relations  with  him,  and  the  situation 
was  farther  complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  min- 
ister and  his  first  secretary  and  dragoman  were  not 
on  speaking  terms.    Yet  all  the  official  communica- 

33 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

tion  with  the  Porte  had  to  be  carried  on  through 
the  American  Legation.  Happily  I  was  on  good 
terms  with  all  the  parties  concerned.  Dr.  Hamlin 
told  me  what  he  wanted  and  I  went  first  to  the 
minister  and  got  his  promise  to  act;  then  I  went 
to  the  dragoman  and  persuaded  him  to  act  on  the 
same  line,  in  both  cases  listening  to  the  complaints 
which  the  one  had  to  make  against  the  other.  It 
was  the  most  curious  experience  that  I  ever  had  in 
diplomacy.  In  1868  Dr.  Hamlin  resumed  direct 
intercourse  with  the  American  minister. 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  aid  given  by  Mr. 
George  D.  Morgan  of  New  York.  In  January, 
1868,  Mr.  Morgan  and  his  family  met  at  their 
hotel  in  Constantinople  Mr.  C.  C.  Coffin  of  Boston, 
the  well-known  war  correspondent,  who  was  a 
friend  of  mine.  Mr.  Morgan  was  ill,  but  Mr. 
Coffin  brought  the  family  to  a  prayer  meeting  at 
my  house  in  Pera,  and  the  next  morning  I  went  to 
see  what  I  could  do  for  Mr.  Morgan.  In  the  course 
of  our  conversation  I  told  him  the  story  of  Dr. 
Hamlin's  conflict  with  the  Turkish  government. 
He  was  so  much  interested  that  he  gave  up  a  day 
to  go  to  Hissar  with  me  and  see  the  site.  I  took  him 
to  Bebec  to  call  on  Dr.  Hamlin,  and  there  he  care- 
fully examined  all  the  documents  connected  with 
the  case.  He  told  me  that  evening  that  he  should 
not  return  to  America  before  May  or  June,  but  that 
he  would  make  it  his  first  business  after  his  arrival 
to  go  to  Washington  and  settle  this  matter  with 
Mr.  Seward.  He  kept  his  promise,  and  this  was  the 
beginning  of  the  end  of  the  struggle  for  permission 
to  build  the  College. 

34 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

I  left  Constantinople  in  the  spring  of  1868  with 
no  expectation  of  ever  returning  to  work  here.  I 
had  other  plans  in  view.  In  the  winter  of  1 808-69 
I  was  at  my  father's  house  on  a  visit,  when  one 
morning  I  received  a  telegram  from  Chicago  ask- 
ing me  to  take  charge  of  a  church  there,  a  letter 
from  two  gentlemen  in  New  York  offering  to  fur- 
nish all  the  money  needed  for  the  carrying  out  of 
the  plans  which  I  had  in  view  when  I  left  Constanti- 
nople, and  a  letter  from  Mr.  Robert,  who  WTote  that 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  me  to  go  to  Constan- 
tinople to  look  after  the  work  of  the  College  while 
Dr.  Hamlin  was  engaged  in  erecting  a  building  at 
Hissar.  I  declined  the  invitation  to  Chicago  and 
went  to  New  York  to  see  Mr.  Robert  and  to  consult 
my  friends  there.  I  got  their  consent  to  postpone 
my  work  in  New  York  for  two  years,  and  agreed 
with  Mr.  Robert  to  go  and  assist  Dr.  Hamlin  for 
thatjength  of  time  if  he  wished  me  to  come,  know- 
ing as  he  did  that  I  had  no  special  preparation  for 
such  work.  He  had  expressed  some  doubt  about 
my  health  and  my  willingness  to  come,  but  ap- 
proved of  Mr.  Robert's  proposal  fully  when  he 
found  that  another  man  whom  he  had  invited  had 
declined  to  go.  I  had  no  thought  of  making  this 
my  life-work,  but  I  believed  in  the  College.  I  loved 
and  admired  Dr.  Hamlin  and  I  was  willing:  to  sacri- 
fice  two  years  to  help  him  out.  I  suppose  that  the 
one  thing  which  led  Mr.  Robert  to  insist  upon  my 
going  was  the  fact  that  my  wife  was  Dr.  Hamlin's 
eldest  daughter. 

Dr.  Hamlin  telegraphed  me  to  come  at  once,  and 
we  arrived  in  Constantinople  in  season  to  be  present 

S5 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  building 
at  Hissar,  July  5,  1869,  and  went  to  live  in  one  of 
the  college  buildings  at  Bebec  just  opposite  the 
main  building.  The  College  was  still  in  session. 
Dr.  Hamlin  writes,  "We  welcome  the  Washburns 
with  great  rejoicing,  for  all  these  difficulties  so 
absorb  my  time  that  the  college  year  would  wind 
up  badly  without  him."  My  official  position  was 
that  of  Professor  of  Philosophy. 

Robert  College  in  1869  was  a  unique  institution. 
It  occupied  an  old  wooden  house,  built  in  1798,  on 
the  side  of  a  steep  hill  in  the  midst  of  the  village  of 
Bebec.  It  was  entered  from  a  court,  with  three 
stories  below  this  level  and  three  above.  At  the  op- 
posite end  of  the  court  was  the  kitchen.  Dr.  Ham- 
lin's family  lived  in  the  story  on  the  level,  and  the 
students  occupied  the  rest  of  the  building.  They 
also  occupied  part  of  a  house  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street  which  Dr.  Hamlin  had  built  some  years 
before  for  a  flour  mill  and  bakery.  I  lived  in  the 
upper  story  of  this  house.  The  main  building  was 
very  picturesque,  but  there  were  very  few  conven- 
iences in  either  house,  and  what  there  were  were 
chiefly  the  handiwork  of  the  president.  Not  a  penny 
which  could  be  saved  was  ever  wasted  on  the  place, 
and  the  College  was  practically  self-supporting.  It 
was  generally  known  as  Dr.  Hamlin's  College. 
There  was  one  professor  when  I  came  who  had 
already  resigned  and  who  left  in  July.  There  were 
two  American  tutors,  Grosvenor  and  Wilcox,  and 
four  assistant  teachers  for  French  and  the  native 
languages.  Dr.  Hamlin  was  the  College.  If  the  tu- 
tors were  wise  and  tactful  enough  to  understand  and 

36 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

carry  out  his  ideas,  they  were  a  help.  Sometimes 
they  were  a  hindrance.  There  were  no  regular  col- 
lege classes.  Every  student  was  treated  as  though 
he  were  the  only  one  and  given  such  studies  as  were 
adapted  to  his  capacity.  Every  year  those  who  were 
advanced  were  selected  and  formed  into  a  class  to 
graduate  at  the  end  of  the  year.  With  the  small 
number  of  students  then  in  the  College  this  system 
worked  very  well.  We  have  had  no  graduates  who 
have  distinguished  themselves  in  later  life  more  than 
those  who  were  under  Dr.  Hamlin's  personal  influ- 
ence. He  had  a  marvelous  power  of  impressing  his 
own  personality  on  his  students.  He  was  a  great 
teacher  and  he  lived  with  the  students,  ate  at  the 
same  table,  and  managed,  in  spite  of  the  variety  of 
his  occupations,  to  see  much  of  them.  He  believed 
in  righteous  anger  and  sometimes  came  down  upon 
a  student  like  a  cyclone,  but  behind  this  there  was  a 
tenderness  of  heart  and  a  sense  of  humor  which  I 
think  invariably  won  the  affection  of  the  students. 
I  have  found  among  my  papers  an  old  document 
in  Dr.  Hamlin's  handwriting  which  illustrates  his 
methods  of  discipline,  which  were  often  as  unique  as 
this,  and  almost  always  successful.  It  relates  to  two 
brothers,  Italians,  who  were  always  quarreling. 

Articles  of  Peace  between 

Silvio  and  Pierre  Biscuchia  terminating 

THE  War  of  1867  &  1868 

March  7,  1868 

The  two  high  contracting  parties  agree : 
1 .   That  in  order  to  preserve  peace,  amity  and 
good  will  and  to  confirm  a  strict  brotherhood  to  all 

37 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

future  generations  one  shall  not  call  the  other  an  ass 
or  a  dog  or  a  pig  or  a  thief,  robber,  rowdy,  pezevenk 
or  other  opprobrious  epithet  in  Italian,  French, 
Turkish,  Greek,  English,  Bulgarian,  Armenian  or 
any  other  language  spoken  at  the  tower  of  Babel  or 
since  that  day. 

2.  Silvio  shall  in  no  case  strike  Pierre  nor  Pierre 
Silvio. 

3.  If  either  is  guilty  of  any  injustice  toward  the 
other  the  injured  party  shall  state  it  to  the  Principal 
in  writing  and  judgment  shall  be  rendered  accord- 
ing to  the  evidence. 

Witnesses :  (Signed) 

GusTAVE  Gaze.  Silvio  Biscuchia. 

Henri  Coidan.  Pierre  Biscuchia. 

Yanko  Agelasto. 

These  boys  left  the  College  soon  after,  and  some 
years  later  one  killed  the  other  in  a  quarrel. 

He  was  as  supreme  in  the  kitchen  as  in  the  school- 
room and  generally  superintended  the  making  of 
the  morning  coffee  himself.  Although  he  knew 
nothing  of  book-keeping  he  managed  the  financial 
affairs  of  the  College  with  success,  as  he  had  man- 
aged his  bakery  and  laundry  in  the  time  of  the  war. 

About  three-fourths  of  the  students  boarded  in 
the  college,  35  in  all.  They  studied  in  the  study 
hall,  slept  in  dormitories,  12  or  15  together,  bringing 
their  own  bedding,  ate  in  the  dining-room,  played  in 
the  small  court,  made  their  ablutions  in  a  small 
lavatory  or  in  the  open  court,  got  exercise  by  walk- 
ing and  occasional  games  on  the  hills  above  Bebec. 
They  had  prayers  conducted  by    Dr.  Hamlin   at 

38 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

6.30  in  the  morning  and  any  student  who  failed 
to  be  present  lost  his  breakfast.  Lunch  was  at 
12.30  and  dinner  at  6.  The  study  hours  were  4 
in  the  morning,  2.30  in  the  afternoon  and  1.30  in 
the  evening.  Every  student  was  in  bed  and  all 
lights  extinguished  at  10.  I  think  that  Dr.  Hamlin 
himself  seldom  slept  more  than  four  hours  in  the 
night,  w4th  some  five-minute  naps  during  the  day. 
Each  dormitory  had  a  tutor's  room  next  it,  and  the 
tutors  were  expected  to  keep  a  surveillance  over  the 
students  at  all  times,  but  especially  in  the  study  hall 
and  the  dormitories.  No  student  could  leave  the 
building  without  special  permission. 

Most  of  the  boarders  at  this  time  were  Bulga- 
rians, and  for  twenty  years  the  great  majority  of  the 
graduates  were  of  this  nationality.  During  the  pre- 
vious decade  the  Bulgarians  had  awakened  from 
the  sleep  of  centuries.  They  had  thrown  off  the 
yoke  of  the  Greek  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  and 
began  to  dream  of  escaping  from  that  of  the  Turk. 
It  was  a  nation  of  peasants,  held  in  ignorance  by  a 
double  bondage.  When  they  began  to  seek  for  en- 
lightenment their  attention  was  first  directed  to 
Robert  College  by  Dr.  Long,  then  an  American 
missionary  in  Bulgaria  and  later  a  professor  in  the 
College.  Although  Dr.  Hamlin  had  interested  him- 
self in  the  Bulgarians  in  1856  and  used  his  influence 
to  have  missions  established  in  Bulgaria,  it  does 
not  appear  from  their  correspondence  that  either  he 
or  Mr.  Robert  had  ever  thought  of  them  as  possible 
students  in  the  College,  and  Mr.  Robert  died  with- 
out knowing  that  he  had  played  an  important  part 
in  founding  a  new  state  in  Europe. 

39 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

When  I  reached  Constantinople  Dr.  Hamlin  had 
been  absorbed  for  some  time  in  the  work  of  building 
at  Hissar,  and,  having  no  head,  the  College  had 
fallen  into  confusion;  but  it  was  soon  reduced  to 
order,  the  examinations  were  satisfactory  and  Dr. 
Hamlin  looked  upon  the  Commencement  exercises 
as  a  great  success.  Five  Bulgarians  and  one  Ger- 
man were  graduated  and  eighty  persons  attended 
the  exercises.  Dr.  Hamlin  writes  to  Mr.  Robert 
August  6,  1869 :  *'  Our  Commencement  was  the  best 
we  have  ever  had  and  left  a  very  excellent  impres- 
sion. The  orations  of  the  graduating  class  were 
sober,  manly,  dignified,  earnest  and  full  of  Chris- 
tian thought.  I  would  have  wished  you  no  greater 
luxury  than  listening  to  them.  Mr.  Washburn  will 
put  things  in  shape  and  keep  them  there.  You  will 
enjoy  having  a  business  man  to  correspond  with 
instead  of  a  busy  man.    I  think  he  will  do  grandly." 

The  seventh  college  year  opened  September  15, 
1869.  Dr.  Hamlin  continued  in  charge  of  the 
boarding  department.  Otherwise  he  was  absorbed 
from  the  very  early  morning  until  evening  at  Hissar, 
but  always  ready  to  give  me  advice.  Two  new  tu- 
tors arrived  from  America,  Wetmore  of  Michigan 
University  and  Anderson  of  Hamilton  College,  and 
together  with  Mr.  Grosvenor  they  entered  into  the 
work  with  enthusiasm  and  whole-hearted  devotion. 
There  were  six  assistant  teachers. 

October  6  there  were  present  53  boarders  and  18 
day  scholars  from  the  vicinity  of  the  College,  making 
71  in  all,  of  whom  35  were  Bulgarians,  10  Greeks, 
8  Armenians,  6  Americans,  4  English,  2  Dutch,  2 
Syrians,  2  Christian  Osmanlis,  1  Persian  prince,  1 

40 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

German.  Dr.  Hamlin  could  pick  out  only  one  stu- 
dent who  could  be  called  a  Senior,  an  Armenian,  but 
I  managed  during  the  year  to  organize  a  Junior  class 
of  five  Bulgarians. 

Up  to  this  time  the  Sabbath  services  at  the  College 
had  been  in  charge  of  Rev.  Dr.  Schauffler,  who  had 
been  for  many  years  the  pastor  of  a  church  made  up 
of  missionaries  and  foreign  residents,  which  held 
regular  services  in  the  building  which  Dr.  Hamlin 
had  rented  for  the  College.  The  students  attended 
this  service.  Dr.  SchaufHer  resigned  this  work  at 
the  end  of  1879  on  account  of  feeble  health.  The 
College  then  became  responsible  for  the  services. 
The  preaching  was  done  by  Dr.  Hamlin  and  myself 
with  what  help  we  could  get  from  the  missionaries. 
The  Bible  classes  had  always  been  a  part  of  the  col- 
lege work,  and  Dr.  Hamlin  was  nowhere  more  suc- 
cessful than  in  this  department. 

In  March  the  number  of  students  had  increased 
to  eighty- three,  but  an  epidemic  of  measles,  brought 
into  the  College  by  a  day  scholar,  created  a  panic, 
and  thirty  boys,  mostly  day  scholars,  left,  some  of 
them  not  to  return.  None  of  the  cases  proved  fatal, 
but  it  was  a  serious  interruption  to  our  work.  Mr. 
Robert  was  seriously  ill  in  New  York  at  this  time 
and  came  to  Europe  to  regain  his  health.  This  also 
was  a  source  of  great  anxiety  to  us.  We  were 
greatly  refreshed  by  a  visit  from  Professor  Park  of 
Andover  and  Professors  Smith  and  Hitchcock  of 
New  York.  Their  enthusiastic  interest  in  the  Col- 
lege and  in  the  building  at  Hissar  gave  us  all  new 
courage.  I  do  not  think  that  a  gift  of  five  thousand 
dollars  would  have  done  us  as  much  good.   They 

41 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

were  great  and  good  men  and  their  hearty  indorse- 
ment of  our  work,  which  many  of  the  missionaries 
looked  upon  unfavorably,  confirmed  our  faith  in  it. 
Professor  Park  had  been  lamed  by  the  kick  of  a 
horse,  but  he  insisted  on  going  to  the  new  building, 
and  Dr.  Hamlin  had  him  hauled  up  the  hill  in  a 
Turkish  cart  drawn  by  two  buffaloes.  Those  who 
remember  Professor  Park  can  imagine  how  he 
looked  and  the  play  of  humor  between  him  and 
Professor  Hitchcock. 

On  Sunday,  June  5,  1870,  Constantinople  was 
visited  by  a  conflagration  which  destroyed  a  large 
part  of  the  quarter  of  Pera,  consuming  over  eight 
thousand  houses,  destroying  at  least  one  thousand 
lives  and  leaving  some  fifty  thousand  people  home- 
less. Among  the  buildings  destroyed  was  the  palace 
of  the  English  Embassy  and  many  of  the  best 
houses  in  the  city.  No  one  ever  attempted  to  esti- 
mate carefully  the  pecuniary  loss.  The  homes  of 
three  of  our  students  were  burned  and  the  parents 
of  several  others  lost  most  of  their  property.  Dr. 
Hamlin  anticipated  such  a  rise  in  the  cost  of  ma- 
terial and  in  labor  as  would  greatly  increase  the 
cost  of  his  building,  but  the  calamity  was  so  great 
that  the  opposite  result  followed. 

The  year  closed  with  only  one  graduate,  an  Ar- 
menian, but  we  put  the  Juniors  all  on  the  stage  with 
orations  and  had  a  very  successful  Commencement. 
Dr.  Hamlin  left  his  work  at  Hissar  to  attend  the 
examinations  and  wrote  to  Mr.  Robert:  "The 
examinations  were  good  and  gratifying.  The  prog- 
ress of  the  year  has  been  decided  and  hopeful  for 
the  future."   The  financial  results  of  the  year  were 

42 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

equally  satisfactory,  as  the  income  was  sufficient  to 
pay  the  expenses.  But  I  called  Mr.  Robert's  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  this  could  only  be  hoped  for  so 
long  as  we  had  no  permanent  faculty  and  depended 
on  cheap  and  transient  tutors.  Dr.  Hamlin  had  en- 
couraged Mr.  Robert  to  believe  that  it  was  not  only 
possible  to  make  the  College  self-supporting,  but 
that  the  profits  would  accumulate  rapidly  and  fur- 
nish the  means  to  erect  additional  buildings.  He 
WTote  to  Mr.  Robert  that  in  the  new  building  with 
250  students,  no  more  teachers  would  be  needed 
than  with  80  students,  the  number  then  in  the  Col- 
lege. It  will  be  seen  that  this  optimistic  view  has 
not  been  justified  in  our  experience.  A  college 
without  professors  would  be  an  anomaly  anywhere, 
and  to-day  with  400  students  we  find  12  professors 
and  28  other  teachers  none  too  many  for  our  work. 

The  eighth  college  year  opened  in  the  old  build- 
ing at  Bebec  in  September,  1870,  with  103  students, 
which  increased  during  the  year  to  100  boarders  and 
35  day  scholars,  when  we  moved  into  the  new  build- 
ing at  Hissar.  We  had  managed  at  the  close  of  the 
previous  year  to  organize  another  class  so  that  we 
began  with  a  regular  programme  of  studies  and 
Sophomore,  Junior  and  Senior  classes,  the  balance 
of  students  being  more  or  less  irregular. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  came  to  Constantinople  in 
the  middle  of  October  and  spent  a  month  here. 
They  went  from  here  to  Syria  and  visited  the  col- 
lege which  had  been  opened  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Daniel  Bliss  at  Beirut.  The  Beirut  College  in- 
terested Mr.  Robert  because  it  had  been  founded  on 
somewhat  different  principles  from  that  at  Constan- 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

tinople.  It  was  closely  connected  with  the  Mission 
and  was  distinctively  Protestant,  taking  the  name 
Syrian  Protestant  College.  It  was  largely  under  the 
control  of  a  local  board  of  managers.  It  had  a  medi- 
cal department  in  view,  which  later  became  the 
most  important  branch  of  its  work.  The  language 
of  the  college  was  Arabic,  this  being  the  common 
language  of  all  nationalities  in  Syria,  but  after  some 
years  of  experience  this  was  changed  to  English.  I 
regret  that  I  have  not  in  my  possession  and  have 
never  seen  any  of  the  letters  written  by  Mr.  Robert 
at  the  time  of  his  visit  to  Constantinople  and  must 
depend  upon  my  memory  for  everything  connected 
with  it.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  spent  most  of  the 
time  that  they  were  with  us  in  the  old  mill  house  at 
Bebec,  but  Dr.  Hamlin  naturally  saw  much  more  of 
Mr.  Robert  than  I  did.  He  spent  almost  every  day 
with  Dr.  Hamlin  at  Hissar  and  interested  himself 
in  all  the  details  of  the  building,  although  he  did 
not  approve  of  the  way  in  which  Dr.  Hamlin  often 
exposed  his  life  in  various  kinds  of  manual  labor. 
It  was  not  long  after  Mr.  Robert  left  that  he  fell 
against  a  buzz  saw  and  lost  two  of  his  fingers. 
However,  Mr.  Robert  told  me  that  he  had  never  en- 
joyed anything  more  than  these  days  spent  at  His- 
sar with  Dr.  Hamlin.  He  took  time  also  to  see 
everything  at  the  College  in  Bebec  —  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  the  teachers  and  students  and  in- 
vestigate every  detail  of  every  department.  He  did 
not  hesitate  to  criticise  and  advise  in  regard  to  the 
w^ork  at  Bebec  or  at  Hissar,  and  so  far  as  Bebec 
was  concerned  his  criticisms  were  generally  wise 
and  timely,  although  it  was  sometimes  impossible 

44 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

in  our  straitened  circumstances  to  correct  the 
deficiencies  which  he  discovered.  He  also  saw  the 
missionaries  and  interested  himself  in  them  and 
their  work,  and  drew  out  such  criticisms  of  the  Col- 
lege as  they  had  to  make. 

The  Grand  Vizier,  Aali  Pasha,  lived  at  Bebec 
and  naturally  knew  of  Mr.  Robert's  presence  here. 
He  informed  the  Sultan,  who  proposed  to  confer  on 
Mr.  Robert  the  decoration  of  the  Medjidie,  in  dia- 
monds. The  Grand  Vizier  invited  Mr.  Robert  to 
call  on  him  and  informed  him  of  the  will  of  the 
Sultan  in  most  complimentary  language.  Mr.  Rob- 
ert expressed  his  high  appreciation  of  the  honor 
but  declined  to  accept  the  decoration,  as  something 
altogether  foreign  to  American  ideas.  The  Grand 
Vizier  took  it  very  kindly,  but  there  was  a  difference 
of  opinion  among  friends  of  the  College  here  as  to 
the  wisdom  of  his  act.  This  official  recognition  of 
the  College  by  the  Sultan  would  have  had  its  value 
in  later  years,  and  it  is  not  exactly  a  gracious  thing 
to  refuse  an  honor  of  this  sort,  or  a  possible  thing  to 
make  Turkish  officials  understand  the  motives  of 
such  a  refusal.  Still  there  is  no  evidence  that  any 
positive  harm  came  of  it  in  this  case,  and  it  would 
be  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more  incongruous 
than  Mr.  Robert  wearing  a  Turkish  decoration  on 
his  breast  in  a  New  York  drawing-room. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  visit  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Robert  to  Constantinople  confirmed  him  in 
his  determination  to  support  the  College  to  the  ut- 
most extent  of  his  ability. 

Not  long  after  his  departure  w^e  had  a  visit  from 
General  Sheridan,  who  was  fresh  from  the  great 

45 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

battlefields  of  France  and  enough  of  an  American 
to  interest  himself  in  the  peaceful  work  of  an  Ameri- 
can college  on  the  Bosphorus.  He  told  me  that, 
although  he  had  seen  the  most  bloody  battles  of  the 
war,  near  Metz,  he  had  seen  no  such  desperate 
fighting  as  took  place  on  several  occasions  during 
our  Civil  War  in  America. 

After  Mr.  Robert  left  us  we  plunged  into  a  sea  of 
troubles,  such  as  are  incident  to  such  an  institution, 
but  which  were  new  to  me.  First  came  a  most  trying 
case  of  discipline  involving  two  of  the  most  promi- 
nent students,  one  English  and  one  Persian,  in  a 
gross  offense  against  morality.  There  was  nothing 
to  be  done  but  to  expel  them  both,  although  one 
belonged  to  a  Christian  family  who  were  among 
our  best  friends.  Later  developments  proved  that 
this  young  man  was  a  hopeless  degenerate;  but  I 
felt  then,  as  I  have  felt  quite  as  strongly  ever  since, 
that  to  expel  a  student  is  a  humiliating  confession  of 
failure  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  in  some  cases 
at  least  an  evidence  that  the  teacher  has  failed  to  do 
his  duty. 

Early  in  January  we  had  an  outbreak  of  typhoid 
fever  in  the  College,  due,  as  I  believed,  to  the  over- 
crowding of  the  old  building  at  Bebec,  although  Dr. 
Hamlin  was  unwilling  to  admit  this.  Many  were  ill 
and  there  were  four  serious  cases.  The  worst  case 
was  that  of  a  young  German  boy  from  Trieste.  We 
took  him  into  our  house,  and  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I 
took  care  of  him  for  many  weeks.  He  sank  so  low 
that  for  two  days  he  was  unconscious  and  lay  like 
dead,  but  he  rallied  again  and  finally  recovered  his 
health,  to  our  great  joy,  as  did  all  the  rest  of  our 

46 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

patients.  But  for  a  time  the  College  was  a  hospital, 
with  no  doctor  within  five  miles  of  us  and  no  trained 
nurses.    It  was  a  great  strain  on  all  the  teachers. 

It  was  partly  on  this  account  that  Dr.  Hamlin  in- 
sisted upon  moving  into  the  new  building  at  Hissar 
before  it  was  finished.  I  think  that  no  one  else  ap- 
proved of  it,  but  the  result  justified  Dr.  Hamlin's 
decision.  There  is  a  common  proverb  current  here, 
*'If  you  build  a  stone  house,  rent  it  to  your  enemy 
the  first  year,  to  your  friend  the  second  and  live  in  it 
yourself  the  third."  Every  one  prophesied  evil  of 
the  dampness  of  the  walls,  and  many  would  not 
send  their  sons  on  this  account,  but  in  fact  the 
health  of  the  College  was  perfect  after  our  removal. 
The  only  inconvenience  was  the  intolerable  noise 
made  by  the  forty  or  fifty  workmen  in  the  building. 
Dr.  Hamlin's  family  moved  into  the  building  at  the 
same  time  with  the  students.  It  was  May  17,  1871, 
that  the  new  building  was  occupied;  and  the  change 
made  in  perfect  weather  from  the  narrow  quarters 
in  the  midst  of  the  village  of  Bebec  to  the  hill-top  at 
Hissar,  the  most  beautiful  site  on  the  Bosphorus 
and  one  unsurpassed  by  any  in  the  world,  more 
than  compensated  for  all  the  inconvenience  of  our 
unfinished  building  —  and  the  bare,  unimproved 
grounds,  cumbered  with  workshops  and  piles  of 
rock  and  unprotected  with  walls.  The  number  of 
students  rose  to  130  before  the  end  of  the  year.  The 
public  opening  was  postponed  to  July  4,  just  two 
years  from  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  Ex-Secretary  Seward,  on  his  way  around 
the  world,  was  in  Constantinople  at  this  time,  and 
he  came  to  the  College  to  take  the  principal  part  in 

47 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

the  opening  exercises.  Blacque  Bey,  who  was  the 
Turkish  minister  at  Washington  at  the  critical  time 
when  Mr.  Morgan  brought  the  college  question 
before  Mr.  Seward  with  such  success,  was  also 
there.  Mr.  Seward  was  a  physical  wreck,  but  he 
made  a  noble  address,  and  his  presence  on  this  oc- 
casion impressed  the  Turkish  government  and  all 
Constantinople  with  the  idea  that  the  College  was 
under  the  special  patronage  as  well  as  protection  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  I  suppose  it 
was  one  of  the  happiest  days  in  Dr.  Hamlin's  life  — 
a  day  of  triumph  in  what  he  believed  to  be  a  great 
and  good  cause  and  for  which  he  had  battled  for  ten 
years. 

The  Commencement  exercises  a  month  later  were 
held  in  the  study  hall  which  occupied  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  first  story  of  the  new  building  which  I 
shall  henceforth  speak  of  as  Hamlin  Hall.  Up  to 
that  time  there  had  been  9  graduates,  2  in  1868,  6  in 
1869,  1  in  1870, —  6  Bulgarians,  2  Armenians  and  1 
German.  Mr.  Petco  Gorbanoff  remained  several 
years  in  the  College  as  instructor  in  Bulgarian  and 
since  that  time  has  been  a  prominent  citizen  of  Bul- 
garia, a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  often  a  member 
of  the  National  Assembly.  Mr.  Hagopos  Djedjizian 
has  been  a  Protestant  preacher  and  an  instructor  or 
professor  of  Armenian  in  the  College  since  1869.  Of 
the  next  class  Mr.  Jordan  Economoff  and  Mr. 
Stephan  Thomoff  studied  theology  in  Drew  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  America  and  have  since  been 
Protestant  clergymen  in  Bulgaria.  Mr.  Theodore 
Djabaroff  has  been  a  prominent  official  in  Bulgaria. 
Mr.  Peter  Mattheoff  has  occupied  high  ministerial 

48 


LAST  TWO  YEARS  AT  BEBEG 

and  diplomatic  positions  in  the  Bulgarian  govern- 
ment after  having  been  in  the  British  postal  service, 
and  after  having  been  engaged  for  the  British  Mu- 
seum in  explorations  in  Babylonia  with  George 
Smith.  Mr.  Diran  Garabetian  of  1870  has  been 
an  ofhcial  of  the  Imperial  Ottoman  Bank  ever  since 
his  graduation,  and  Mr.  Naiden  Nicoloff  also  a 
banker. 

The  class  of  1871  were  all  Bulgarians,  and  no 
more  distinguished  class  has  ever  been  graduated 
from  the  College.  Stephan  Panaretoff  has  been  in- 
structor or  professor  of  Bulgarian  and  Slavic  in  the 
College  ever  since  his  graduation,  and  Bulgaria 
has  produced  no  more  distinguished  scholar  and 
teacher.  Mr.  Stoiloff  and  Mr.  Slaveikoff  w^ere  both 
teachers  in  the  College  for  a  time.  Constantine 
Stoiloff  was  the  ablest  statesman  in  Bulgaria  until 
he  died  in  1901.  Ivan  Slaveikoff  was  one  of  the 
leading  literary  men  in  Bulgaria  and  held  many 
high  offices  during  his  life  until  he  died  in  1901,  as 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  Ivan  S.  Gueshoff  is 
still  a  leading  politician  and  just  now  diplomatic 
agent  of  Bulgaria  in  Constantinople,  as  he  has  been 
in  Paris  and  Vienna.  Petco  Taptcheleshloff  has 
been  and  is  a  merchant. 

I  was  not  present  on  July  4  nor  at  the  Com- 
mencement. I  had  left  for  America  June  20.  The 
two  years  which  I  had  agreed  to  give  to  Robert 
College  while  Dr.  Hamlin  was  engaged  in  building 
had  been  completed  and  the  building  was  occupied. 
Family  affairs  and  other  considerations  made  it 
necessary  for  me  to  go  to  America.  But  Mr.  Robert 
and  the  trustees  in  New  York  and  Dr.  Hamlin  in 

49 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Constantinople  urged  me  to  accept  a  permanent 
position  in  the  College,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  it  had  been  arranged  for  Dr.  Hamlin  to  go  to 
America  in  the  autumn  to  raise  an  endowment  for 
the  College.  Dr.  Hamlin  knew  from  two  years'  ex- 
perience that  I  could  never  manage  a  college  on  his 
plan  and  declared  often  that  he  could  never  manage 
one  on  mine;  but  he  thought  that  I  had  learned 
enough  from  him  and  had  caught  enough  of  his 
spirit,  to  make  me  the  only  possible  candidate  to 
fill  his  place  while  he  was  in  America.  I  accepted 
the  appointment  after  much  hesitation,  because  I 
had  become  deeply  interested  in  the  College  and 
because  I  believed,  after  two  years  of  trial,  that,  in 
spite  of  our  differences,  we  could  work  together  in 
harmony  —  peacefully  agreeing  to  differ  as  we 
always  had.  I  did  not  forget  that  I  had  come  to  the 
College  without  any  experience  in  teaching  or  in  the 
administration  of  a  school  of  any  kind  and  that  most 
of  what  I  knew  at  the  end  of  two  years  I  had  learned 
from  Dr.  Hamlin.  Our  differences  grew  out  of  our 
characters.  He  was  an  original  genius,  I  was  not. 
He  abhorred  all  the  trammels  and  details  of  system- 
atic organization,  which  he  declared  belonged  to 
Jesuits.  To  me  such  system  seemed  to  be  essential. 
We  got  on  together  because  he  tolerated  my  system 
and  I  was  glad  to  have  him  work  outside  of  it  in  any 
way  he  pleased. 


50 


CHAPTER  IV 

NINTH    COLLEGE   YEAR.     1871-1872 

Dr.  Hamlin  left  for  America  September  30, 1871, 
leaving  his  family  in  the  house  which  I  had  occupied 
at  Bebec,  while  I  moved  into  Hamlin  Hall,  occupy- 
ing the  suite  of  rooms  in  the  second  story  on  the 
south  side  of  the  building,  where  we  lived  for  twenty 
years.  \ 

A  great  change  had  taken  place  in  the  political 
situation    at    Constantinople   due   to   the   Franco- \ 
Prussian  War.    It  was  illustrated  by  a  request  made  1 
to  me  by  an  Armenian   merchant  at  this  time. 
"Please  excuse  my  son  from  studying  any  morel 
French,    that   is   played   out.    Let   him   study   the/ 
Prussian   language    instead.*'    Since   the    Crimean/ 
War    French  influence,   and    under  its  protection 
Jesuit  influence,  had  been  supreme  at  Constanti^ 
nople.    Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz  had  visited  Napoleon 
III  at  Paris,  and  the  Empress,  after  opening  the 
Suez  Canal,  had  been  entertained  by  the  Sultan  at 
Constantinople.   The  great  Lycee  of  Galata  Serai 
had  been  opened,   with  a  staff  furnished  by  the 
Emperor  but  supported  by  the  Sultan,  to  compete 
with  Robert  College;  and  Dr.  Hamlin  had  found  all 
this  influence  arrayed  against  him  when  he  was  seek- 
ing permission  to  build   at  Hissar.    All   this   was 
changed  by  the  war  and  the  fall   of  the  empire. 
It  was  some  years  before  Germany  gained  much 

51 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

influence  here,  but  Russia  came  to  the  front  and 
England  regained  much  of  her  old  prestige  in  the 
eyes  of  Turkish  statesmen  if  not  with  Sultan  Abd- 
ul-Aziz himself.  The  men  who  deposed  him  a  few 
years  later  were  in  league  with  England.  Russia 
took  the  place  of  France  as  the  chief  enemy  of  the 
College  and  used  her  influence  to  turn  Bulgarian 
students  from  Robert  College  to  Russia  for  their 
education.  Unfortunately  for  Bulgaria  she  opened 
the  way  for  a  boy  in  Tirnova,  where  Dr.  Long  was 
a  missionary,  and  a  friend  of  this  boy,  whose  name 
was  Stambouloff,  to  go  to  Russia  for  a  free  educa- 
tion in  a  theological  school.  If  he  had  come  to 
Robert  College  he  would  have  had  other  ideas  of 
government  than  those  which  he  learned  in  Russia. 
He  was  probably  the  strongest  man  that  Bulgaria 
has  produced  and  saved  Bulgaria  from  Russian 
domination;  but  so  far  as  the  internal  government 
of  the  country  was  concerned  he  too  often  fell  back 
upon  Russian  methods.  When  a  student  he  was 
expelled  from  Russia  as  a  nihilist  but  secretly  em- 
ployed by  the  Russian  Embassy  as  a  sort  of  brigand 
revolutionist  against  the  Turks,  before  the  massa- 
cres, and  came  to  the  front  as  a  great  leader  after 
the  fall  of  Prince  Alexander. 

The  College  opened  September  15  with  four 
college  classes  and  a  preparatory  class,  with  but 
few  students ;  but  by  the  first  of  October  there  were 
135  boarders  and  30  day  scholars.  Mr.  Grosvenor 
had  left  for  America  and  in  his  place  two  new  tutors, 
Mr.  Forbes  from  Amherst  College  and  Mr.  Richard- 
son from  Hobart,  had  come,  making  with  Mr. 
Anderson  and  Mr.  Wetmore  a  most  efficient  staff  of 

52 


NINTH  COLLEGE  YEAR 

American  teachers.  We  have  never  had  better  men 
and  they  have  all  distinguished  themselves  since. 
I  can  never  forget  what  I  owe  and  what  the  College 
owes  to  their  devoted  service. 

The  cause  of  so  few  students  entering  the  College 
w^as  the  outbreak  of  an  epidemic  of  cholera  in  the 
city.  The  horrors  of  the  great  epidemic  of  1865 
were  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all,  and  students  were 
afraid  to  come.  It  was  a  wonder  that  we  had  so 
many.  The  first  cases  occurred  before  Dr.  Hamlin 
left  for  America,  and  he  hesitated  about  starting.  It 
w^as  while  he  was  still  detained  in  the  quarantine  at 
Trieste  that  I  was  roused  from  my  bed  by  a  mes- 
senger from  Bebec,  saying  that  Willie  Hamlin  had 
the  cholera.  It  was  a  terribly  stormy  night,  and  it 
took  me  three  quarters  of  an  hour  to  reach  them. 
I  found  the  case  far  advanced,  and  no  doctor  could 
be  found.  Six  years  before  in  that  very  room  my 
own  son  Harry  had  died  of  cholera  in  my  arms.  I 
fought  the  disease  in  this  case  until  six  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  made  all  the  arrangements  for  his  im- 
mediate burial  and  disinfecting  the  house  and  came 
back  to  Hissar  more  dead  than  alive  to  go  to  bed 
and  fight  off  an  attack  of  cholera  myself.  Had  I  re- 
mained until  the  authorities  knew  of  the  case  I 
should  have  been  kept  there  some  days  in  quaran- 
tine. It  was  a  terrible  shock  to  Mrs.  Hamlin,  but 
happily  no  other  case  occurred  in  the  family. 
Within  a  few  days  I  was  called  to  three  other  cases 
in  the  families  at  Hissar.  All  died.  There  was 
something  peculiar  about  this  epidemic,  unlike  that 
of  1865.  Nearly  every  case  proved  fatal,  with  treat- 
ment which  in  1865  was  generally  successful.   I  had 

5S 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

a  second  slight  attack  myself  after  one  of  these 
visits,  and  we  had  some  three  hundred  cases  of  stu- 
dents with  threatening  premonitory  symptoms,  but 
every  student  was  carefully  watched,  and  we  had 
no  fully  developed  case  of  cholera  in  the  College. 
Many  thought  that  we  ought  to  suspend  and  send 
the  students  home ;  but  they  and  their  parents  had 
such  faith  in  us  that,  so  far  as  I  can  remember,  only 
a  single  student  was  withdrawn.  At  one  time  Mr. 
Wetmore  had  an  attack  when  spending  a  night  at 
Bebec,  but  I  got  to  him  at  once  and  he  recovered. 
Those  were  weeks  when  everything  looked  dark 
about  us,  but  we  put  our  trust  in  God  and  kept  right 
on  with  the  required  routine  of  college  work,  and 
He  did  not  fail  us.  The  epidemic  lasted  about  four 
months.  There  were  about  four  thousand  deaths 
in  the  city  besides  soldiers  and  sailors.  The  frantic 
attempts  of  the  Turkish  authorities  to  deal  with 
the  epidemic  on  modern  principles  frightened  the 
people  more  than  the  disease  itself.  It  was  then 
that  they  first  heard  of  microbes,  and  Turkish  doc- 
tors stuffed  chloride  of  lime  into  the  mouths,  noses 
and  ears  of  their  patients  to  keep  the  microbes  from 
crawling  out  and  attacking  others. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  event  of  the  year  was 
the  purchase  of  the  land  between  the  College  and 
the  village  of  Hissar.  It  belonged  to  Achmet  Vefik 
Pasha  of  whom  Dr.  Hamlin  had  bought  the  college 
lot  of  about  six  acres.  This  one  contained  about 
twelve  acres,  and  included  the  well  which  was  our 
only  water  supply,  besides  the  cistern  of  Hamlin 
Hall.  Dr.  Hamlin  had  written  at  length  to  Mr. 
Robert  urging  him  to  authorize  the  purchase  by 

54 


NINTH  COLLEGE  YEAR 

telegraph.  After  Dr.  Hamlin's  departure  a  long 
letter  came  from  Mr.  Robert  forbidding  the  pur- 
chase, but  here  appeared  one  of  Mr.  Robert's  most 
admirable  characteristics.  Although  the  most  posi- 
tive of  men  in  his  judgments,  he  hesitated  about  im- 
posing his  authority  upon  us,  even  where  it  was  a 
question  of  money  which  must  come  out  of  his 
pocket.  He  had  held  the  letter  over  a  day  and  then 
added  a  postscript  which  left  the  final  decision  to 
me.^  I  bought  the  land  at  once  for  thirteen  thou- 
sand tw^o  hundred  dollars.  On  this  land  to-day 
stand  Theodorus  Hall  and  six  professors'  houses. 
Achmet  Vefik  Pasha  was  in  no  special  need  of 
money  at  that  time,  but  he  was  a  warm  friend  of  the 
College,  and  the  price  which  he  asked  was  very 
reasonable.  He  was  the  most  interesting  Turk 
whom  I  have  ever  known  —  a  great  linguist,  famil- 
iar with  sixteen  languages  and  with  the  classic 
authors  of  all  Europe,  had  held  the  highest  offices 
in  the  government,  was  a  great  reformer  and  an 

*  In  regard  to  this  postscript  Mr.  Robert  wrote  to  me  October  30, 
1871:  "I  think  I  see  clearly  the  hand  of  God  in  suggesting  those 
lines.  I  had  conferred  with  Mr.  Booth  on  the  subject  .  .  .  and  we 
both  decided  it  was  not  best  to  make  the  purchase.  I  went  to  Throgs 
Neck  that  evening  feeling  that  we  had  done  right,  but  thinking  and 
praying  over  it,  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  had  never  given  Dr.  Hamlin 
positive  instruction  as  to  anything,  though  I  had  several  times 
differed  from  him,  saying  to  myself  why  should  I  do  so  in  this  case. 
I  name  it  because  I  have  had  the  most  pleasant  emotions  since  read- 
ing your  letter  advising  the  purchase  and  cannot  forbear  expressing 
my  feelings,  for  I  have  often  during  the  past  six  weeks  asked  our 
Heavenly  Father  to  guide  all  interested  in  the  matter  to  such  action 
as  would  be  most  for  His  glory,  and  my  conviction  is  strong  that  in 
this  thing  we  have  all  been  directed  by  wisdom  from  above." 

55 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

honest  man,  —  a  very  rare  thing  for  a  Turkish  offi- 
cial; but  his  ideas  of  government  were  altogether 
oriental  and  I  think  that  Haroon-al-Rashid  was  his 
ideal  for  a  sovereign.  He  lived  very  near  the  Col- 
lege, and  I  spent  many  evenings  with  him.  One  I 
shall  never  forget.  I  found  there  a  German  savant, 
and  they  were  discussing  the  inspiration  of  the 
Bible.  I  declined  to  take  part  and  listened.  The 
nominal  Christian  was  denying  it,  and  the  Moham- 
medan defended  it  quite  as  though  he  had  been  a 
professor  in  a  Protestant  theological  seminary.  I 
was  amazed,  and  the  next  day  I  went  to  ask  him 
where  he  had  studied  theology.  He  laughed  one  of 
his  hearty  laughs  and  said,  "Oh!  when  I  was 
ambassador  in  Paris  I  lived  next  door  to  Renan,  and 
we  discussed  religious  questions  almost  every  day.'* 
He  died  some  years  ago,  a  poor  man;  his  family  has 
disappeared,  and  the  very  house  in  which  he  lived 
has  been  pulled  down  and  sold  for  firewood.  His 
magnificent  library,  the  best  in  Constantinople,  was 
scattered,  —  partly  stolen  and  partly  sold  to  pay 
debts. 

It  is  perhaps  worth  mentioning  that  in  February, 
1872,  Nature  favored  us  with  an  exhibition  of  the 
Aurora  Borealis  which  surpassed  everything  that  I 
have  ever  seen.  For  hours  the  heavens  were  as  red 
as  blood,  great  waves  of  light  pouring  down  from  a 
corona  at  the  zenith  and  coming  up  from  the  hori- 
zon. It  was  the  more  remarkable  as  we  seldom  see 
anything  of  these  displays  here,  and  it  made  a  great 
impression  upon  our  students,  as  well  as  upon  the 
superstitious  people  of  the  city. 

We  had  some  very  interesting  visitors  during  the 

5Q 


NINTH  COLLEGE  YEAR 

year.  First  Professor  North  of  Hamilton  College, 
*'the  old  Greek"  as  he  was  called  by  his  students, 
and  one  who  was  greatly  trusted  by  Mr.  Robert. 
Many  of  our  best  tutors  we  owed  to  his  recommen- 
dation. Three  of  them  were  here  at  the  time  of  his 
visit.  He  was  very  enthusiastic  about  the  College, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  his  report  of  it  was  a  great 
encouragement  to  Mr.  Robert  at  a  time  when  he 
specially  needed  it  —  when  he  was  reluctantly  giv- 
ing up  his  school  on  Lookout  Mountain  that  he 
might  concentrate  his  efforts  upon  Robert  College. 

Later  came  General  Sherman  and  Lieutenant, 
now  General,  Grant  —  Prince  Grant  as  he  was 
called  by  the  Turkish  newspapers,  his  father  being 
at  that  time  President  of  the  United  States.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  was  the  guest  of  the  Sultan,  and  he 
brought  with  him  to  the  College  the  staff  of  pashas 
who  were  in  attendance  on  him.  He  made  an  ad- 
mirable address  to  the  students  and  made  it  appar- 
ent to  the  Sultan  and  to  all  the  city  that  Robert  Col- 
lege was  an  institution  honored  by  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  Such  support  by  such  a  man 
was  invaluable  to  us.  Later  came  Mr.  Remington, 
of  whom  I  shall  write  in  connection  with  the  Com- 
mencement exercises. 

One  of  the  questions  brought  up  by  Mr.  Robert 
during  this  year  was  that  of  corporal  punishment, 
which  he  objected  to.  Dr.  Hamlin  had  flogged 
students  publicly  for  gross  offenses  and  considered 
this  a  proper  punishment,  and  I  had  been  so  far  in- 
fluenced by  Dr.  Hamlin's  example  that  in  the  earlier 
years  of  my  administration  I  did  sometimes  resort 
to  forcible  measures  in  extreme  cases  even  with 

57 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

older  students,  and  some  amusing  stories  are  current 
among  the  alumni  of  my  punishments.  For  a  man 
as  big  and  strong  as  I  was  it  was  not  unnatural  to 
meet  resistance  sometimes  with  force.  I  did  once 
throw  a  Turk  down  stairs,  who  had  intruded  into 
a  dormitory  after  having  been  ordered  out  of  the 
building,  and  some  students  did  feel  the  weight  of 
my  heavy  oak  cane  when  they  were  riotous.  Look- 
ing back  upon  it  now,  I  am  inclined  to  feel  that  in 
those  earlier  years  something  of  this  kind  was  nec- 
essary ;  but  as  the  College  came  to  be  a  recognized 
power  in  the  world  its  moral  influence  increased  so 
much,  that  physical  force  was  no  longer  needed  to 
maintain  discipline.  In  later  years  I  never  resorted 
to  it  with  college  students.  But  I  have  always  be- 
lieved that  whipping  was  a  punishment  well  fitted 
for  the  younger  boys  in  the  Preparatory  Depart- 
ment in  a  certain  class  of  offenses.  Only  I  insisted 
that  it  should  be  administered  by  the  president  in 
private,  not  publicly  nor  by  any  other  teacher,  and 
solemnly.  There  were  ten  cases  during  this  college 
year  where  such  punishment  was  administered.  In 
the  later  years  I  found  that  a  public  reprimand  at 
morning  prayers  was  one  of  the  most  effective  of 
punishments,  only  it  was  necessary  to  resort  to  this 
as  a  rare  punishment,  and  for  serious  offenses.  If 
it  had  been  common  it  would  have  been  useless. 
The  most  difficult  cases  to  manage  were  those  in 
which  I  had  to  settle  quarrels  between  students, 
especially  when  they  were  of  different  nationalities, 
to  be  an  absolutely  just  judge  between  them,  and 
to  so  far  satisfy  both  parties  that  there  would  be  no 
further  trouble. 

58 


GEORGE   WASHBURN 


NINTH  COLLEGE  YEAR 

In  May,  1872,  I  was  appointed  by  the  trustees 
Director  of  the  College,  which  did  not  disturb  the 
position  of  Dr.  Hamlin  as  president,  and  was 
equivalent  to  the  position  of  vice-president,  giving 
me  full  authority  during  his  absence.  The  title  of 
director  was  chosen  as  one  that  would  be  better 
understood  in  Constantinople. 

Dr.  Hamlin  reached  Constantinople  June  17  on 
his  return  from  America.  His  special  purpose  in  re- 
turning was  to  erect  a  study  hall  building  and  two 
professors'  houses.  He  was  greatly  impressed  by 
the  enthusiastic  reception  which  was  given  to  him 
by  the  College.  He  writes  to  Mr.  Robert,  "  It  was  a 
most  unexpected  and  enthusiastic  affair.'*  A  week 
later  he  writes  in  regard  to  his  eight  months  in 
America:  "I  have  been  able,  some  way  or  other, 
to  secure  a  good  hearing,  but  in  the  very  crisis  of  the 
work,  the  getting  of  the  money,  I  have  failed.  I 
have  learned  some  things  I  never  dreamed  of  as 
possible,  and  now  it  remains  to  be  seen  what  success 
God  will  give  to  another  year's  deliberate  and  con- 
secutive effort.  If  I  can  raise  an  endowment  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars  a  year  I  am  willing  to  give 
four  years  to  it." 

Dr.  Hamlin's  failure  to  get  money  is  a  mystery  to 
me.^    Since  that  day  I  have  had  long  and  repeated 

*  In  a  letter  to  me  Mr.  Robert  gives  the  following  reasons  for  Dr. 
Hamlin's  failure.  1st.  The  low  state  of  religion  in  the  churches. 
2d.  Humanitarian  efforts.  These  were  stimulated  by  the  war  and 
since  then  the  sympathies  of  benevolent  men  have  run  in  this  di- 
rection. 3d.  Denominational  zeal.  Ministers  try  to  turn  all  gifts 
into  denominational  enterprises.  4th.  For  two  years  several  of  the 
largest  denominations  have   been  getting  up   !' memorial    funds." 

59 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

experiences  in  raising  money  for  the  College  and 
ought  to  understand  the  business,  but  I  cannot  un- 
derstand why  Dr.  Hamlin  failed.  I  have  never  done 
such  grand  work  or  created  any  such  enthusiasm  as 
he  did.  He  worked  day  and  night.  He  had  a  great 
number  of  very  successful  public  meetings,  attended 
by  the  elite  of  America,  and  he  diligently  followed 
them  up  by  personal  interviews.  No  missionary 
has  ever  been  more  honored.  No  college  president 
ever  worked  harder.  But  he  got  very  little  money. 
The  great  Chicago  fire  which  took  place  while  he 
was  on  the  way  to  America  may  have  had  some  in- 
fluence, and  in  New  York  City  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Robert's  name  had  been  given  to  the  College  fur- 
nished some  with  an  excuse  for  not  giving.  No  man 
in  New  York  was  more  highly  or  more  universally 
respected  than  Mr.  Robert,  but  he  was  not  a  popu- 
lar man.  There  was  no  more  liberal  or  conscien- 
tious giver  in  New  York,  but  he  carried  out  the  in- 
junction not  to  let  his  left  hand  know  what  his  right 
hand  gave,  and  few  knew  how  generous  he  was.   It 

5th.  The  Chicago  fire.  6th.  "Charity  begins  at  home,"  the  com- 
mon excuse  for  not  giving  to  anything  foreign.  My  impression  is  that 
he  might  have  added  another  more  important  one. 

Both  he  and  Dr.  HamHn  thought  that  their  strongest  argument 
was  to  say  that  the  College  was  and  would  be  self -supporting.  I 
have  always  used  the  opposite  argument.  Without  an  endowment 
the  College  could  not  Hve.  There  is  a  pleasure  in  starting  a  good 
thing  which  will  go  on  by  itself,  but  where  is  there  a  genuine  college 
which  is  progressing  without  an  endowment  ?  According  to  Mr. 
Robert's  books  the  College  was  self-supporting  the  fifth,  seventh, 
eighth  and  ninth  years,  years  when  there  were  no  professors.  The 
other  years  there  was  a  loss  of  more  than  two  thousand  dollars  a 
year.   It  has  never  been  self-supporting  since  the  tenth  year. 

60 


NINTH  COLLEGE  YEAR 

is  not  surprising  that  Dr.  Hamlin  found  difficulties 
in  New  York  City,  but  I  never  found  Mr.  Robert's 
name  or  character  an  obstacle  in  other  places,  where 
most  of  Dr.  Hamlin's  work  was  done.  I  cannot 
account  for  his  failure.  It  was  a  terrible  disap- 
pointment both  to  him  and  to  Mr.  Robert,  and 
in  April  Mr.  Robert  had  written  to  me  that  Dr. 
Hamlin  feared  that  I  was  dooming  the  College  "to 
financial  ruin"  by  insisting  upon  the  appointment 
of  professors  and  perfecting  our  equipment.  He 
seemed  to  share  this  feeling.  Under  these  trying 
circumstances  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  College 
is  more  remarkable  than  the  way  in  which  Mr. 
Robert's  faith  and  courage  rose  above  it  all  to  meet 
the  emergency.  He  not  only  consented  to  every- 
thing which  I  had  asked  for,  but  sent  Dr.  Hamlin 
back  to  put  up  three  new  buildings. 

It  was  during  this  college  year  and  the  next  that 
Mr.  Forbes  and  I  made  a  careful  geological  survey 
of  the  Bosphorus  region,  extending  back  some 
twenty  miles  on  each  side  of  the  Strait.  Educated 
at  Amherst  under  President  Hitchcock,  I  had  at 
one  time  thought  of  giving  my  life  to  geology.  Mr. 
Forbes  was  also  an  Amherst  man  and  had  inter- 
ested himself  in  this  subject,  and  he  joined  in  this 
work  most  heartily.  I  probably  owe  my  long  life 
to  the  fact  that  for  some  two  years  Mr.  Forbes  and 
I  devoted  all  the  time  that  we  could  get  to  this  out- 
of-door  work,  and  there  is  no  part  of  my  life  here 
that  I  look  back  upon  with  more  pleasure.  It  was 
a  field  which  had  hardly  been  worked  at  all,  and  we 
made  many  interesting  discoveries.  We  settled 
the  age  of  the  different  formations  in  this  vicinity 

61 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

and  learned  much  of  its  geological  history.  One 
incident  brought  our  work  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
scientific  world.  Much  was  made  just  at  this  time 
of  the  discovery  of  evidence  of  the  existence  of  man 
in  the  Miocene  period,  based  on  the  discovery  by 
Mr.  Calvert  of  fossil  bones  in  Miocene  strata  eight 
hundred  feet  below  the  surface  which  were  "cov- 
ered with  pictures  which  must  have  been  made 
by  human  hands."  The  locality  of  the  discovery 
was  near  the  shore  of  the  Dardanelles  just  on  the 
edge  of  the  Troad.  Mr.  Forbes  and  I  went  down 
there  to  investigate,  and  Mr.  Calvert  very  kindly 
showed  us  the  bones  and  informed  us  exactly 
where  they  had  been  found.  We  found  the  place, 
and  the  formation  was  undoubtedly  Miocene.  We 
found  plenty  of  fossil  bones  of  that  period,  some 
with  similar  marks  on  them,  but  we  were  able  to 
demonstrate  the  fact  that  no  human  hands  ever 
had  anything  to  do  with  making  these  marks  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  scientific  world.  We  afterward 
visited  Hissarlik  and  were  entertained  there  roy- 
ally by  Mr.  Schliemann  and  his  beautiful  wife.  The 
world  is  generally  agreed  now  that  this  is  the  site 
of  ancient  Troy;  but  we  came  to  the  conclusion, 
after  visiting  all  the  supposed  sites,  that  there  is  no 
place  in  the  Troad  which  answers  to  all  the  demands 
of  the  Iliad. 

The  college  year  closed  with  210  students,  and  Dr. 
Hamlin  wrote  to  Mr.  Robert  of  the  Commence- 
ment exercises,  July  25,  1872:  *' Yesterday  was  a 
great  day  and  a  high  day  at  Robert  College.  It  was 
the  best  of  all  our  Commencements.  It  crowned 
them  all,  and  in  all  respects  the  exercises  of  the  grad- 

62 


NINTH  COLLEGE  YEAR 

uating  class  were  excellent,  not  merely  satisfactory, 
but  positively  gratifying,  solid,  thoughtful,  clear,  no 
flash,  no  '  hi-falutin,*  but  noble,  manly  and  ele- 
vated. Music  introduced  for  the  first  time  and 
good.  Speeches  by  Mr.  Boker,  American  minister, 
Mr.  Francis,  our  minister  to  Athens,  Mr.  Reming- 
ton" and  others.  Mr.  Remington  helped  to  cele- 
brate the  day  by  giving  five  thousand  dollars,  the 
income  of  which  was  to  be  used  for  general  pur- 
poses until  it  might  seem  wise  to  use  the  principal 
to  start  a  museum  of  useful  arts.  We  had  already 
commenced  a  zoological  museum,  by  the  purchase 
of  a  unique  collection  of  Turkish  birds,  which  is 
still,  I  think,  the  only  one  in  the  city. 

The  graduates  numbered  8,  —  6  Bulgarians, 
1  Greek  and  1  English.  Andrew  C.  Zenos,  the 
Greek,  has  been  for  many  years  a  very  distinguished 
professor  in  American  theological  seminaries, 
now  at  McCormick  Seminary  in  Chicago.  Edward 
Binns,  the  Englishman,  was  thrown  from  a  horse 
and  killed  in  1876.  Of  the  Bulgarians  the  one  to 
whom  their  country  owes  the  most  is  Peter  Dimitroff. 
He  had  paid  his  way  through  college  by  teaching 
Turkish  and  remained  a  teacher  for  several  years 
after  graduating.  From  the  time  of  the  Bulgarian 
massacres  to  the  present  day  he  has  been  one  of  the 
wisest,  best  and  most  devoted  servants  of  his  country. 
Gonstantine  Calchof  is  now  a  wealthy  banker  and 
has  occupied  many  important  positions  in  the 
government  of  Eastern  Roumelia  and  Bulgaria. 
Dimitry  Economoff  and  Ivan  D.  Gueshoff  have 
done  good  service  in  high  official  positions.  Stephan 
M.  Camburoff  entered  the  army  and  died  in  1882. 

63 


CHAPTER  V 

DEVELOPMENT    OF  THE    COLLEGE.    1872-1873 

This  year  marks  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  Col- 
lege. We  crossed  the  Rubicon.  We  settled  the  ques- 
tion that  this  should  be  a  college  and  not  a  high 
school,  and  that  we  would  trust  in  God  to  raise 
up  friends  to  support  it.  If  Mr.  Robert  had  not 
been  a  man  of  great  faith,  who  lived  very  near  to 
God,  this  decision  would  never  have  been  made.  I 
can  never  recall  this  decision  on  his  part  without  a 
feeling  of  profound  reverence  for  the  man.  Up  to 
this  time  he  had  cherished  the  idea  that  the  College 
might  be  self-supporting,  and  Dr.  Hamlin  had  used 
this  as  one  of  his  chief  arguments  in  his  campaign  in 
America  to  raise  funds.  In  fact  during  the  last  three 
years  it  had  been  self-supporting  so  far  as  current 
expenses  were  concerned,  and  the  failure  to  raise 
money  for  endowment  must  have  been  a  cogent 
reason  in  Mr.  Robert's  mind  to  avoid  additional 
expenses,  especially  as  we  had  managed  to  do  some 
very  good  work  under  the  existing  system  of  having 
only  one  permanent  teacher.  Dr.  Hamlin  was  a 
college  in  himself,  as  President  Garfield  said  of  Dr. 
Hopkins;  but  it  must  be  remembered  Garfield  had 
in  view  that  there  should  be  only  one  student,  "Dr. 
Hopkins  on  one  end  of  the  log,  he  on  the  other." 
During  the  ninth  year  there  had  been  over  two 
hundred    students   in  the   College.     I   was   acting 

64 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

president,  I  was  the  Faculty,  I  was  the  college 
preacher,  I  was  professor  of  Philosophy  and  Politi- 
cal Economy.  I  taught  English,  I  was  treasurer, 
I  was  dean,  I  managed  the  boarding  department, 
I  was  secretary  and  had  all  the  correspondence 
and  the  direction  of  fifteen  temporary  instructors 
of  eight  different  nationalities;  and  I  was  not  Dr. 
Hamlin.  It  would  have  been  ridiculous  to  call 
such  an  institution  a  college  except  for  the  one 
fact  that  it  was  in  Turkey  and  that  there  was  no 
other  school  in  the  empire  in  those  early  years  to 
equal  it.  On  the  same  plan  it  might  have  con- 
tinued to  exist  as  a  self-supporting  high  school,  but 
it  could  never  have  been  a  college  and  never  have 
attained  the  commanding  position  which  it  has 
held  since  1872.  Two  professors  were  appointed 
and  one  adjunct  professor.  I  was  furnished  with  a 
secretary  and  Dr.  Hamlin  had  returned  from 
America.  We  had  a  Faculty.  Rev.  Albert  L.  Long, 
D.D.,  was  appointed  Professor  of  Natural  Science, 
Edwin  A.  Grosvenor,  Professor  of  Latin  and  History, 
Hagopos  Djedjizian  Adjunct  Professor  of  Ancient 
and  Modern  Armenian.  Dr.  Long  was  a  rare  man, 
of  distinguished  ability  and  not  quite  forty  years 
old.  He  had  taught  several  years  in  America.  He 
had  been  a  missionary  of  the  American  Methodist 
Church  in  Bulgaria  for  some  twelve  years,  where  he 
had  w^on  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  people 
and  with  Dr.  Riggs  had  translated  the  Bible  into 
Bulgarian.  It  w^as  through  his  influence  that  Bul- 
garians first  came  to  the  College.  No  college  presi- 
dent ever  had  a  more  devoted  and  eflScient  associate, 
and  he  was  a  tower  of  strength  in  the  College  until 

65 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

he  died  in  1901,  mourned  by  all  Bulgaria  and  by 
every  student  who  had  been  under  him.  He  had 
been  beloved  as  a  brother  by  all  his  associates. 
Professor  Grosvenor  had  been  a  tutor  in  the  College 
for  three  years  and  had  proved  so  efficient  that  we 
were  glad  to  persuade  him  to  return  as  a  professor. 
He  came  back  as  an  ordained  minister.  He  filled 
the  place  with  distinguished  ability  until  he  re- 
signed in  1890  to  go  to  America  and  accept  a  pro- 
fessorship in  Amherst  College.  Professor  Dje- 
djizian  was  a  graduate  of  the  College  in  1868  and 
had  been  an  instructor  ever  since.  He  already  had 
the  reputation  among  the  Armenians  of  being  a 
very  eloquent  preacher  and  orator,  as  well  as  an 
Armenian  scholar.  His  appointment  as  adjunct 
professor  was  a  reversal  of  the  former  policy  of  the 
College,  in  which  policy  I  had  fully  agreed  with  Mr. 
Robert,  that  we  should  appoint  no  natives  of  the 
country  to  permanent  positions  in  the  College.  We 
all  agreed  in  1872  that  this  was  a  mistake,  and  our 
experience  ever  since  has  fully  justified  this  conclu- 
sion. My  secretary,  Mr.  Robert  Thomson,  who 
remained  with  me  five  years,  was  a  young  Scotch- 
man who  had  been  a  student  in  the  College.  He 
was  an  ideal  secretary,  and  after  leaving  me  he  went 
to  America  and  studied  theology  and  has  since  been 
one  of  the  best  missionaries  of  the  American  Board 
in  Bulgaria.  In  addition  to  these  professors  we 
began  the  year  with  four  American  tutors,  Messrs. 
Richardson,  Forbes,  Arthur  Hoyt  and  Woodbridge, 
eight  other  instructors  and  an  English  lady,  Mrs. 
Dick,  as  matron.  Our  salary  account  for  the  year 
was  increased  about  four  thousand  dollars  over  the 

66 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

previous  year.  The  increase  in  our  permanent 
staff  enabled  us  to  revise  and  improve  our  curricu- 
lum of  studies,  one  thing  Mr.  Robert  had  con- 
stantly impressed  upon  us  from  the  beginning.  He 
often  wrote  about  it.  Dr.  Hamlin's  letters  to  him 
reechoed  the  same  thought,  and  we  all  fully  realized 
the  fact  that  progress,  development  in  the  College, 
was  essential  to  life.  No  one  realized  it  more 
strongly  than  I  did,  and  it  has  been  my  principle  of 
action  always.  But  progress  means  more  men  and 
more  money.  Our  progress  has  never  caught  up 
with  our  desires.  We  had  made  progress  before 
1872.  To  move  from  the  old  house  in  Bebec  to 
Hamlin  Hall  at  Hissar  was  an  evidence  of  progress 
which  deeply  impressed  all  Constantinople.  And 
we  had  done  what  we  could  from  the  first  to  improve 
our  organization,  our  equipment  and  our  course  of 
study.  We  had  been  very  fortunate  in  many  of  our 
tutors  and  instructors;  but  although  we  did  our 
best  with  the  men  and  the  means  which  we  had,  the 
establishment  of  Robert  College  had  already  led  to 
the  establishment  of  the  Galata  Serai  Lycee  and 
several  other  national  schools  which  in  their  equip- 
ment were  in  advance  of  us.  Our  superiority  lay 
altogether  in  the  moral  and  religious  influences 
which  went  to  the  building  up  of  character.  Now 
with  a  live  Faculty  and  Mr.  Robert's  determination 
to  press  forward,  we  were  in  a  position  to  keep  in 
advance  of  all  rivals,  and  at  the  same  time  to  bid 
them  God-speed  in  their  work. 

One  of  our  most  pressing  wants  was  a  material 
one.  Our  study  halls  and  recitation  rooms  w^ere 
absurdly  inadequate  to  the  number  of  our  students, 

67 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

and  Dr.  Hamlin  had  returned  expressly  to  erect  a 
new  building  to  meet  this  want.  He  trusted  per- 
haps too  much  to  the  good  will  of  the  Turkish 
government  and  commenced  work  without  waiting 
for  any  permission,  but  Aali  Pasha  had  passed  away 
and  the  Grand  Vizier  was  the  tool  of  Russia.  Per- 
haps it  was  our  fault  in  having  failed  to  give  a  back- 
sheesh to  the  inspector  who  came  to  see  what  was 
going  on.  At  any  rate,  the  work  was  stopped,  and  it 
was  some  months  before  Mr.  Boker,  the  American 
minister,  succeeded  in  getting  an  irade  for  it.  He 
could  not  get  permission  to  erect  professors'  houses, 
and  Dr.  Hamlin  returned  to  America  without  erect- 
ing them ;  buf  meanwhile  he  purchased  the  house  in 
the  village  of  Hissar  in  which  I  am  now  writing. 
Dr.  Long  moved  into  it  at  that  time.  The  study 
hall  building  was  a  large  one-story  building  behind 
Hamlin  Hall,  made  with  dry  stone  walls  plastered 
without  and  within,  containing  two  study  rooms 
and  recitation  rooms  in  the  roof,  a  temporary  struc- 
ture which  cost  about  ten  thousand  dollars.  Dr. 
Hamlin  was  probably  joking  when  he  wrote  of  it  as 
"adding  to  the  magnificence  of  the  College."  It 
was  an  ugly  building  externally,  but  it  answered  its 
purpose  admirably  for  thirty  years,  when  it  was 
pulled  down,  and  at  the  time  when  it  was  built  it 
added  greatly  to  the  efficient  working  of  the  College. 
After  investing  so  much  capital  in  land  and  build- 
ings and  authorizing  this  increase  in  current  ex- 
penses, Mr.  Robert's  faith  was  to  be  severely  tried 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  but  he  never  expressed 
to  me  any  regret  at  what  he  had  done.  The  year 
had  hardly  opened  when  the  news  of  the  great  fire 

68 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

in  Boston  put  an  end  to  the  hopes  that  he  had  had 
of  help  from  there,  and  the  great  financial  crisis  of 
1873  was  not  only  discouraging  in  a  general  way, 
but  it  seriously  reduced  his  own  income.  Much  of 
his  property  was  in  real  estate  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  the  value  of  this  was  steadily  declining. 
Still  he  firmly  believed  that,  in  His  own  good  time, 
God  would  provide  for  the  College,  as  He  has.  His 
faith  was  not  in  vain. 

The  number  of  students  registered  this  year  was 
257,  of  whom  68  were  day  scholars  and  189  board- 
ers, but  the  number  present  at  any  one  time  was 
never  more  than  170  boarders  and  45  day  scholars. 
There  were  some  troubles  during  the  year  which  led 
to  the  expulsion  of  6  students.  The  number  of 
Greeks  in  the  College  had  increased  to  48,  and  the 
great  conflict  of  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians  over 
the  church  question  had  lately  been  decided  by 
the  Turks  in  favor  of  the  Bulgarians,  in  view  of 
which  the  Greek  Patriarch  had  excommunicated  the 
Bulgarian  nation  as  schismatics.  The  intensely 
bitter  feeling  between  the  two  nationalities  was 
political  as  well  as  religious,  for  this  recognition  of 
the  Bulgarians  as  a  separate  nationality  put  an  end 
to  long  cherished  hopes  of  a  restoration  of  the 
Greek  Empire  at  Constantinople.  It  revealed  to 
the  world  that  the  Christians  of  European  Turkey 
were  mostly  Slavs  and  not  Greeks.  It  was  inevi- 
table that  our  Bulgarian  and  Greek  students  should 
share  in  the  general  excitement,  and  on  one  occa- 
sion we  escaped  a  general  battle  at  the  evening  sur- 
veillance only  because  I  happened  to  be  within  a 
hundred   feet  of  the   study   hall.   The   Bulgarian 

69 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

instructor  was  in  charge  of  the  study  hall,  and  I 
found  him  closed  with  a  big  Greek,  while  every 
student  was  on  his  feet  just  rushing  to  the  fray.  I 
sent  the  Greek  to  my  office  and  had  no  difficulty  in 
restoring  order  in  the  hall,  but  it  was  a  narrow 
escape  from  a  great  calamity.  It  is  to  the  credit  of 
both  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians  that  after  this  they 
respected  the  neutral  territory  of  the  College  so  far 
as  not  to  have  any  more  serious  conflicts.  But  it 
was  years  before  the  better  class  of  Greeks  began  to 
come  in  any  number  to  what  they  often  complained 
to  me  was  a  Bulgarian  college.  At  this  time,  how- 
ever, the  Armenians  had  rather  suddenly  taken  up 
the  College  and  outnumbered  any  other  nationality, 
which  caused  a  combination  against  us  of  their 
national  schools  and  attacks  upon  us  in  their  news- 
papers, which  culminated  in  the  difficulties  of  the 
following  year. 

I  had  to  go  to  America  on  important  business  in 
the  summer,  and  as  the  president  was  here  and 
Professor  Grosvenor  was  living  in  Hamlin  Hall  I 
was  able  to  get  away  a  month  before  the  close  of 
the  year.  Nothing  really  serious  happened  in  my 
absence;  but  with  Armenians,  Bulgarians  and 
Greeks  all  in  rather  an  excited  state,  it  was  natural 
that  after  my  departure  they  should  try  the  metal 
of  the  modified  administration  and  see  what  they 
could  do,  especially  as  Dr.  Hamlin  was  not  living 
in  the  College.  There  was  some  rioting  in  the 
building  at  the  close  of  the  year,  after  Commence- 
ment, but  nothing  more  serious  than  often  takes 
place  in  American  schools.  Dr.  Hamlin  made 
little  of  it.   His  great  trial  was  with  a  case  of  drunk- 

70 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

enness.  He  thrashed  two  students  pul)licly  and 
expelled  the  third.  This  last  was  a  curious  case. 
The  boy  had  given  me  endless  trouble.  Much  of 
the  time  he  was  not  an  unattractive  boy,  but  at 
intervals  his  behavior  was  such  that  it  seemed  to 
me  like  the  cases  reported  in  the  New  Testament 
of  demoniacs.  He  seemed  to  be  literally  possessed 
of  an  evil  spirit  whom  I  could  not  cast  out  so  that 
he  should  not  return.  I  never  heard  of  him  after 
his  expulsion  until  the  time  of  my  giving  up  the 
work  here  in  1904,  when  the  old  students  raised  a 
fund  to  found  a  scholarship  in  my  name,  when  the 
committee  showed  me  a  most  complimentary  letter 
from  him  with  a  contribution  of  twenty  francs  for 
the  testimonial,  and  then  I  learned  that  he  was  a 
most  estimable  man  of  very  modest  means,  who 
wished  to  testify  to  the  good  that  he  had  got  in 
the  College.  Evidently  Dr.  Hamlin's  discipline  cast 
out  the  devil. 

Our  Turkish  neighbors  in  Hissar  were  in  general 
rather  fanatical  and  sometimes  made  things  un- 
pleasant for  us  and  our  students,  but  we  took  as 
little  notice  of  it  as  possible,  hoping  that  as  they 
came  to  know  us  better  they  would  become  friendly. 
They  occasionally  stoned  us,  sometimes  spat  on  us 
and  generally  made  use  of  their  rich  vocabulary 
of  vituperation  to  abuse  us.  This  year  for  some 
reason  these  manifestations  increased  so  that  we 
had  to  apply  to  our  Legation  for  protection.  It 
took  six  months  of  negotiations  with  the  Sublime 
Porte  to  bring  the  affair  to  an  end.  The  following 
year,  under  similar  circumstances,  when  a  lot  of 
boys  from  the  village  molested  us,  I  sent  for  the 

71 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

chief  of  the  poHce,  gave  him  a  backsheesh  and 
asked  him  to  settle  the  matter,  which  he  did  by 
arresting  the  boys  and  thrashing  them.  We  have 
not  troubled  our  Legation  with  such  matters  since. 
The  leader  in  these  attacks  was  the  wife  of  the 
village  imam,  a  remarkable  woman  who  for  many 
years  ruled  this  quarter  of  the  village,  a  virago 
whom  I  do  not  care  to  describe,  for  we  have  been 
good  friends  for  many  years.  I  think  it  was  Dr. 
Long  who  first  won  her  over,  when  he  lived  just 
opposite  to  her  in  the  house  where  I  am  writing. 
It  was  hard  for  any  one  to  withstand  his  kindness. 
It  was  some  years  later  that  she  came  to  my  house 
and  one  day  begged  me  to  understand  that  the 
trouble  she  made  us  in  those  early  years  was  all 
a  mistake.  "We  thought,"  she  said,  "that  you 
were  bad  people  and  would  corrupt  our  village  and 
we  determined  to  drive  you  away,  but  we  have 
found  out  that  you  are  much  better  people  than  we 
are  and  we  are  very  sorry  for  what  we  did." 

After  the  purchase  of  the  house  in  Hissar  Dr. 
Hamlin  in  some  way  got  the  idea  that  I  intended 
to  leave  Hamlin  Hall  and  move  into  this  house.  In 
fact  I  had  never  thought  of  doing  so,  but  he  wrote 
to  Mr.  Robert  a  solemn  and  rather  violent  protest 
against  this.  One  paragraph  may  be  quoted. 
*'This  measure  would  be  revolutionary.  Its  ulti- 
mate moral  result  would  be  bad.  It  would  end  in 
failure.  Should  the  measure  ever  be  proposed  and 
acceded  to  what  course  should  I  feel  impelled  to 
pursue.^  ...  I  will  never  assent  to  it,  I  will  die 
first.  Such  a  revolutionary  measure  would  neces- 
sarily dissolve  my  connection,  whether  nominal  or 

72 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

real,  with  the  College  and  with  its  endowment." 
I  lived  in  Ilamlin  Hall  twenty  years  and  only  left 
it  when  forced  to  do  so  by  my  health;  and  when 
Professor  Anderson  and  his  family  took  our  place, 
I  still  lived  on  the  college  grounds  in  Kennedy 
Lodge.  I  mention  this  matter  here  to  record  my 
absolute  agreement  with  Dr.  Hamlin's  feeling, 
which  prompted  his  protest.  I  believe  that  the 
work  which  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  did  in  those 
twenty  years  was  the  best  work  we  have  ever  done, 
that  our  influence  over  the  teachers  and  the  stu- 
dents was  far  greater  and  better  than  it  has  ever 
been  since,  even  though  we  were  living  within 
a  stone's  throw  of  the  College.  So  long  as  Professor 
Anderson  lived  in  Hamlin  Hall  it  was  no  great  loss 
to  the  College,  but  it  was  a  loss  to  me  and  Mrs. 
Washburn.  In  the  end,  after  some  ten  years,  he  also 
was  forced  to  give  it  up.  Our  personal  influence 
over  the  students  while  we  lived  in  Hamlin  Hall 
was  worth  more  to  them  than  the  instruction  they 
received  in  my  classes. 

One  interesting  episode  of  the  year  was  a  chal- 
lenge to  a  cricket  match  sent  to  our  students  by 
the  officers  of  the  British  gunboat  Antelope.  They 
anticipated  an  easy  victory,  but  they  were  igno- 
miniously  beaten  by  our  boys,  and  the  same  thing 
happened  on  the  return  match  played  a  week  later. 
They  could  not  understand  how  Bulgarians,  Ar- 
menians and  Greeks  in  an  American  college  could 
beat  Englishmen  at  their  national  game,  but  they 
took  it  very  good-naturedly. 

Among  other  interesting  visitors  during  the  year 
were  Mr.  Bancroft,  the  historian,  then  American 

73 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

minister  at  Berlin,  and  Bevan  Braithwait,  one  of 
the  leading  Friends  in  England.  Mr.  Bancroft  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  College  and  was  one  of 
our  best  friends  in  America  until  his  death.  I  took 
him  to  call  on  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha,  who  was  as 
entertaining  as  usual,  and  made  a  great  impression 
on  Mr.  Bancroft.  He  was  just  then  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction,  and  he  assured  Mr.  Bancroft 
that  he  had  established  forty  thousand  schools  in 
the  empire.  Perhaps  he  had  —  on  paper.  Mr. 
Braithwait  is  still  one  of  our  warm  friends  in  Eng- 
land and  has  visited  us  several  times.  "The  Lord 
has  always  moved  him"  to  address  the  students, 
and  his  addresses  have  been  admirable. 

We  had  only  one  graduate  at  the  end  of  this  year, 
and  he  had  gone  over  the  studies  of  the  Senior  year 
a  second  time,  having  failed  to  pass  his  examina- 
tions the  year  before.  He  was  a  Bulgarian,  John  J. 
Sitchanoff,  and  he  has  been  one  of  the  most  useful 
of  our  graduates.  He  has  been  for  many  years  the 
pastor  of  the  Protestant  church  in  Philippopolis, 
the  most  important  in  Bulgaria,  and  is  held  in  high 
esteem  by  all  classes  in  the  city. 

It  will  seem  strange  that  the  tenth  year  of  the 
College,  with  more  than  200  students,  we  had  no 
Senior  class.  This  resulted  in  part  from  the  en- 
largement of  our  course  of  study,  but  chiefly  from 
another  cause.  Of  the  257  students  registered  the 
tenth  year,  only  54  ever  graduated.  This  number 
would  have  been  somewhat  larger,  but  for  the  Ar- 
menian troubles  the  following  year.  Still  it  repre- 
sents an  important  fact.  If  we  take  the  whole 
number  of  students  who  have  entered  the  College 

74 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

since  its  foundation,  not  more  than  one  in  six  has 
completed  the  course  and  graduated.  The  primary 
reason  for  this  is  that  when  the  College  was  founded 
the  only  idea  that  the  people  of  Turkey  had  of  edu- 
cation was  the  acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of 
three  or  four  languages,  and  this  idea  is  still  very 
common.  Then  again  the  majority  of  our  students 
come  to  the  College  to  be  prepared  for  business  and 
are  always  ready  to  leave  when  their  parents  find 
a  promising  opening  for  them.  Many  are  too 
poor  to  complete  their  education.  Again  in  Turkey 
proper  there  are  very  few  openings  for  Christians 
in  professional  life  or  in  government  offices,  so  that 
the  need  of  a  college  education  is  not  apparent. 
Many  fall  out  because  they  are  dropped  from  their 
classes  for  failure  to  pass  examinations  and  from 
other  personal  reasons.  During  the  tenth  year  24 
students  left  either  from  illness  or  because  their 
families  were  leaving  Turkey. 

But  we  have  never  measured  the  value  of  our 
work  by  the  number  of  our  graduates.  The  aver- 
age length  of  time  spent  in  the  College  by  those  who 
have  not  graduated  is  more  than  three  years.  We 
do  what  we  can  to  induce  those  who  are  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability  to  finish  their  course,  whatever 
career  they  may  have  in  view,  because  there  is  great 
need  of  such  men  to  become  leaders  of  their  people ; 
but  many  of  our  old  students  who  did  not  complete 
the  course  have  done  more  honor  to  the  College 
and  shown  more  affection  for  it  than  some  of  those 
who  have  graduated. 


75 


CHAPTER  VI 

RELIGIOUS   QUESTIONS.     1873-1874 

Dr.  Hamlin  left  Constantinople  September  26 
with  his  family  to  renew  his  efforts  to  raise  an  en- 
dowment, honored  and  beloved  by  men  of  many 
races,  but  most  of  all  by  those  who  had  been  under 
his  instruction  in  the  Bebec  Seminary  and  in  Rob- 
ert College.  He  never  returned.  On  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  of  the  opening  of  the  College 
every  effort  was  made  to  induce  him  to  come  to 
Constantinople,  at  our  expense,  but  he  replied  that 
if  he  could  be  sure  that  he  would  die  there  he  would 
go.  He  could  not  again  go  through  the  trial  of 
leaving. 

I  have  postponed  any  extended  statement  in 
regard  to  the  religious  work  of  the  College  until 
this  time,  because  it  will  be  better  understood  in 
connection  with  the  Armenian  difficulties,  which 
had  been  threatening  for  some  months  and  culmi- 
nated early  in  this  college  year.  I  cannot  present 
it  more  clearly  than  by  giving  some  of  the  letters 
which  were  written  at  the  time  to  Mr.  Robert.  It 
should  be  said  in  advance  that  this  is  the  only  con- 
flict that  we  have  ever  had  with  any  of  the  old 
Christian  churches  of  the  East,  and  that  for  many 
years  the  highest  authorities  in  the  Armenian  as 
well  as  the  Greek  and  Bulgarian  churches  have 
been  our  warmest  supporters  and  have  recognized 

76 


RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS 

the  fact  that  our  religious  efforts  are  directed  to 
making  Christians  rather  than  Protestants  —  that 
it  is  not  our  purpose  to  destroy  these  churches,  but 
to  strengthen  their  spiritual  life  and  their  moral 
influence. 

"  October  2,  1873. 
"There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  we  are  just 
now  entering  upon  one  of  the  most  trying  experi- 
ences of  our  college  life.  I  have  already  informed 
you  that  the  College  has  been  made  the  object  of  a 
series  of  bitter  attacks  in  the  Armenian  newspapers 
of  the  city.  The  nominal  cause  of  this  was  a  case  of 
discipline  which  occurred  while  I  was  in  America 
near  the  end  of  the  year.  In  fact,  however,  this  was 
only  a  pretense.  The  real  cause  came  out  in  various 
letters  published  in  these  papers,  'Why,'  they  say, 
*  should  Armenians  patronize  foreigners  and  here- 
tics when  we  have  such  fine  schools  of  our  own  and 
such  distinguished  instructors.'''  I  saw  a  result  of 
these  attacks  at  the  commencement  of  the  term. 
No  new  Armenian  students  came.  A  number 
had  been  registered  but  have  not  come.  Almost 
every  one  who  was  here  last  year  came  back  this 
year,  but  on  one  pretense  or  another  they  have  put 
off  paying  their  bills,  not  all  but  most  of  them.  .  .  . 
On  Sunday  last  I  received  a  letter  signed  by  eleven 
Armenian  students  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 
Considering  that  the  commentaries  on  the  Bible 
will  not  be  in  direct  and  strict  conformance  with  the 
especial  doctrines  of  the  Armenian  Church,  con- 
sidering that  we  are  required  by  our  religious  officers 
as  well  as  by  our  parents  to  be  taught  in  religious 

77 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

matters  by  them,  as  they  are  exclusively  acknow- 
ledged by  the  Armenian  Church,  we  confess  our- 
selves not  authorized  to  conform  to  your  summons 
concerning  the  Bible  class,  unless  the  permission  of 
our  parents  be  procured  by  an  especial  correspond- 
ence.' 

'*I  let  the  matter  rest  a  day  or  two,  and  last  even- 
ing I  called  these  boys  and  had  a  two  hours'  talk 
with  them.  At  first  they  declined  to  say  anything 
but  that  this  letter  expressed  the  will  of  their  par- 
ents. I  cut  them  off  from  that  tack  and  finally  led 
them  into  a  frank,  full  confession  of  their  plans  and 
ideas.  They  assured  me  that  they  had  nothing 
special  to  complain  of  in  the  Bible  classes,  that  they 
and  their  religion  had  always  been  treated  with  re- 
spect. They  confessed  that  what  they  intended  to 
demand  and  insist  upon  was  *  the  absolute  abolition 
of  all  religious  teaching  in  the  College.  Only  on  this 
condition  could  they  consent  to  remain.  No  one 
was  authorized  to  give  them  religious  instruction  ex- 
cept the  priests  of  their  church,  and  as  they  did  not 
understand  the  grounds  on  which  their  own  faith 
was  based,  they  feared  that  they  might  lose  faith 
altogether  in  it.  They  and  their  parents  were  con- 
stantly abused  and  annoyed  by  other  Armenians  for 
patronizing  a  Protestant  school  and  listening  to 
heresy,'  etc.  I  reasoned  with  them  in  the  most 
kind,  considerate  and  friendly  manner,  and  the 
whole  interview  was  very  pleasant.  Not  one  angry 
or  excited  word  was  spoken.  But  it  was  evident  all 
through  that  they  had  not  originated  this  scheme 
and  were  not  their  own  masters,  that  they  were 
simply  a  skirmishing  party  thrown  out  '  to  feel  the 

78 


RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS 

enemy.'  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  report  my 
part  of  the  conversation  any  farther  than  to  say  that 
I  explained  to  them  that  you  founded  this  College 
for  the  one  object  of  giving  a  Christian  education 
to  the  people  of  Turkey,  that  you  regarded  educa- 
tion without  religion  as  more  a  curse  than  a  blessing, 
that  if  I  yielded  to  their  demands  you  would  remove 
me  at  once  from  my  position  as  director.  Moreover 
that  I  fully  sympathized  with  your  views,  as  we  all 
do,  that  much  as  we  might  wish  to  retain  the  favor 
of  the  Armenians  we  regarded  the  favor  of  God  as 
infinitely  more  important,  that  this  was  a  matter 
upon  which  there  could  be  no  compromise  and  no 
hesitation. 

"This  morning  five  of  them  went  to  town  to 
report  and  get  further  instructions  from  head- 
quarters. What  I  anticipate  is  that  they  will  do 
nothing  until  Sunday  and  then  stay  away  from  all 
the  religious  exercises,  leaving  it  to  me  to  punish 
them  and  thus  give  them  a  pretext  for  raising  the 
cry  of  persecution.  This  w^ould  be  the  shrewdest 
course  for  them  to  take.  [They  did  7iot  do  it,  but 
attended  the  services.]  I  do  not  think  that  there  is 
a  chance  of  their  giving  up  the  battle  without  a 
sharp  fight. 

*'  I  have  looked  back  carefully  over  the  past  ten 
years  in  the  light  of  this  difficulty  and  I  can  see 
nothing  to  regret,  nothing  that  I  would  wish  undone 
in  the  course  we  have  taken  as  to  religious  instruc- 
tion. We  have  never  attacked  the  faith  of  any  of 
our  students.  We  have  had  no  controversy  with 
them,  but  we  have  preached  and  urged  upon  them 
constantly  the  simple,  practical  truths  of  the  New 

79 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Testament,  principles  recognized  by  all  Christian 
churches.  We  have  never  concealed  from  any  par- 
ent, Christian,  Jew  or  Mohammedan,  the  fact  that 
we  should  teach  their  sons  these  things.  On  the 
contrary  we  have  made  it  a  point  to  explain  it  to 
them,  that  they  might  have  no  cause  of  complaint 
afterwards.  I  believe  that  this  attack  does  not 
originate  with  the  boys  or  their  parents,  but  they 
are  driven  up  to  it  by  outside  influence." 

"  Saturday,  October  5,  1873. 
"  An  Armenian  newspaper  of  yesterday  had  a  letter 
and  an  editorial  on  this  subject  in  which  it  was  said 
among  other  things  that  'the  director  of  the  Col- 
lege was  formerly  engaged  in  paying  Armenians  to 
become  Protestants,  but  now  he  had  devised  a  plan 
by  which  he  made  them  pay  forty-four  pounds  for 
the  privilege.'  [This  referred  to  my  having  been 
treasurer  of  the  Mission  Board.]  This  morning  I 
called  the  leading  Armenian  students  and  told  them 
that  neither  they  nor  we  wished  to  have  any  conflict 
or  any  break  in  the  uniform  friendliness  of  our  in- 
tercourse, that  their  plan  of  presenting  me  their 
parents'  protest  to-night  and  their  refusing  to  attend 
the  services  to-morrow  would  inevitably  bring  on 
such  a  conflict  and  that,  if  they  could  not  attend  the 
services,  it  was  better  for  them  to  go  home  for  the 
Sabbath  and  return  Monday  morning.  About 
twenty  went  home.  As  next  week  is  the  monthly 
vacation  this  will  give  us  two  weeks'  time  to  settle 
the  controversy.  Their  plan  was  to  push  things  to 
a  final  crisis  to-morrow  and  carry  it  through  under 
excitement.   They  had  made  great  efforts  to  induce 

80 


RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS 

the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians  to  unite  with  them,  but 
they  failed  utterly.'* 

"  Monday  Evening,  October  7. 

"  The  Armenians  returned  and  presented  me  with 
the  following  ultimatum  signed  by  thirteen  persons 
representing  twenty-three  boarding  students : 

" '  Sir  :  Considering  that  the  Protestant  church 
ceremonies  and  Bible  classes  have  become  obliga- 
tory :  considering  that  we  have  sent  our  boys  simply 
to  receive  instruction  in  languages  and  in  science, 
we  beg  of  you  by  this  present  document  that  you 
would  free  our  boys  from  attending  the  religious 
services  and  Bible  classes,  or  if  that  is  wholly  con- 
trary to  the  principles  of  your  College  you  will  please 
inform  our  boys  that  they  may  at  once  withdraw 
from  the  College.' 

*'  To-morrow  I  shall  give  them  this  reply : 

**  *  Gentlemen  :  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you 
that  no  new  regulations  have  been  made  in  Robert 
College  with  regard  to  religious  instruction  of  the 
students,  and  that  the  instruction  has  been  simply 
such  as  is  considered  in  all  Christian  colleges  essen- 
tial to  good  order  and  to  the  development  of  the 
moral  character  of  the  students.  We  have  highly 
valued  your  favorable  opinion  and  we  shall  regret 
to  lose  your  patronage,  but  we  cannot  accede  to 
your  request  to  excuse  your  sons  from  attendance 
on  religious  services.  Should  we  do  so  we  must  ex- 
tend this  permission  to  all  students  of  all  nationali- 
ties, which  would  involve  the  cessation  of  all  moral 
instruction  in  the  College,  without  which  we  believe 
no  institution  of  learning  can  secure  the  favor  of 
God  or  man.' " 

81 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

"  October  13,  1873. 
"Tuesday  morning  I  called  these  students  together 
at  half  past  eight  o'clock  and  gave  them  the  reply 
with  some  additional  explanations.  I  then  sent 
them  home,  having  posted  two  or  three  teachers  in 
such  places  that  no  disturbance  could  be  made  and 
they  all  went  off  in  school  hours  as  quietly  as  pos- 
sible. They  collected,  however,  in  the  field  outside 
the  college  grounds  and  marched  in  a  body  through 
the  village  of  Hissar,  singing  Armenian  national 
songs  and  making  other  demonstrations.  Twenty- 
three  left  on  Tuesday,  1  on  Wednesday,  and  1  on 
Thursday,  1  later,  26  in  all,  of  whom  9  afterward 
returned.  Others  would  have  been  sent  back  by 
their  parents  but  the  boys  declared  that  they  could 
not  stand  the  merciless  ridicule  which  would  be 
heaped  upon  them  by  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians." 

The  following  year  we  had  only  32  Armenian 
boarders  in  place  of  70  the  year  before  these  troubles. 
This  was  not  the  end  of  the  controversy.  It  was 
continued  for  months  by  the  Armenian  newspapers, 
with  the  result  that  for  two  or  three  years  very  few 
new  Armenian  students  were  sent  to  the  College. 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  a  letter  pub- 
lished in  the  Armenian  papers  after  the  students 
had  left.  It  is  signed  by  two  of  the  best  Armenian 
students  in  the  College,  who  were  leaders  in  this 
affair  and  did  not  return. 

"We  have  recently  seen  several  articles  in  the 
Armenian  papers  in  regard  to  the  religious  instruc- 
tion given  to  the  students  of  Robert  College.  Since 
there  are  some  who  do  not  believe  these  statements, 

82 


RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS 

we  as  students  of  the  College  feel  obliged  to  state 
publicly  what  the  real  facts  are.  It  has  always  been 
obligatory  on  the  students  to  attend  the  religious 
services  and  Bible  classes,  but  we  and  other  stu- 
dents have  attended  them  without  realizing  the  con- 
sequences of  so  unjust  a  regulation  or  giving  any 
information  to  our  parents.  We  attended  them  at 
first  mechanically,  but  we  unconsciously  came  un- 
der the  influence  of  this  indirect  preaching  about 
the  different  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Church  and 
the  Bible  exercises.  The  consequence  was  that  we 
lost  our  faith  in  the  Orthodox  Armenian  Church. 
For  this  reason  we  have  been  obliged  to  guard 
against  the  probable  and  necessary  result  that  we 
should  become  Protestants.  We  first  informed  the 
director  about  this  state  of  things  and  asked  him  to 
excuse  us  from  attending  these  religious  services. 
We  did  not  expect  that  he  would  refuse  so  just  a 
request.  It  was  impossible  for  us  to  believe  that  a 
celebrated  American  institution  in  Turkey  would 
ever  be  the  means  of  violating  the  freedom  of  con- 
science. The  object  of  this  institution,  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  programme,  being '  the  highest  mental 
and  moral  training  of  the  students,'  we  wished  to 
make  another  effort,  so  we  presented  the  following 
document  signed  by  our  parents.  [For  this  and  my 
reply  see  previous  page.]  The  consequence  of  this 
reply  of  the  director  was  the  withdrawal  from  the 
College  of  the  sons  of  those  persons  who  had  signed 
the  paper,  but  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  are 
still  about  thirty  Armenians  in  the  College.  We 
hope  that  those  who  feel  any  interest  in  their  own 
religion   will   remove   their   sons   to   our   national 

83 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

schools.  Finally  we  advise  our  people  not  to  be  de- 
ceived by  the  programme  of  the  College,  and  assure 
them  that  if  they  send  their  sons  there  they  will  be 
the  means  of  making  them  Protestants. 

(Signed)  Hagopian  and  Capamadjian." 

Later,  one  of  the  prominent  Armenians,  who 
kept  his  son  in  the  College,  said  to  me  with  tears  in 
his  eyes:  "The  one  thing  that  I  desire  for  my  son 
is  that  he  should  be  a  good  man.  I  belong  to  the 
Orthodox  Armenian  Church  and  so  have  my  an- 
cestors for  hundreds  of  years.  It  would  be  a  grief 
to  me  if  my  son  should  become  a  Protestant,  but  if 
he  cannot  be  made  a  good  man  without  that  then 
let  him  be  a  Protestant." 

Some  time  after  this  the  Hagopian  who  signed  the 
above  letter  sent  the  following  to  the  papers : 

"There  is  one  thing  that,  up  to  this  time,  I  have 
kept  secret.  Mr.  Washburn,  when  we  went  to  be 
excused  from  religious  exercises,  said  to  us:  'We 
are  no  longer  in  the  dark  ages.  This  is  the  nine- 
teenth century.  It  is  an  age  of  light.  Men  do  not 
now  cover  their  eyes  and  stop  their  ears  from  fear  of 
learning  something  different  from  what  they  have 
believed  before.  Men  do  not  accept  blindly  every- 
thing they  are  told  by  their  priests,  but  investigate 
and  judge  for  themselves.  We  do  not  ask  you  to  ac- 
cept what  we  say  because  we  say  it,  but  to  judge  it 
and  see  if  it  is  true.  You  expect  to  be  educated  men, 
to  be  the  leaders  of  your  people.  You  can  only  be 
so  by  becoming  thinking  men,  willing  and  anxious 
to  know  the  truth.' 

"  He  also  said  that  Mr.  Robert  would  rather  cut 

84 


RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS 

off  his  right  hand  than  abolish  all  religious  instruc- 
tion in  the  College." 

The  Mr.  Hagopian  who  wrote  these  letters  has 
been  for  many  years  one  of  the  leading  Armenians 
in  Constantinople  and  one  of  the  most  faithful  and 
devoted  friends  of  Robert  College. 

I  should  add  a  brief  statement  of  exactly  what  was 
required  of  our  students  at  that  time  in  the  way  of 
religious  services.  It  has  been  modified  since  1902 
in  some  details,  but  is  essentially  unchanged. 

All  students  are  required  to  attend  morning 
prayers  at  8.15  every  day  except  Sunday.  At 
these  the  Scriptures  are  read  and  prayer  of- 
fered. Sometimes  there  is  a  very  brief  applica- 
tion made  of  the  Scripture  passage.  On  the 
Sabbath  we  have  a  preaching  service  at  11  o'clock; 
at  3  P.M.  we  have  Bible  classes,  with  a  general 
exercise  of  half  an  hour  under  the  direction  of  the 
president  at  the  opening,  prayer,  singing  and 
a  brief  address  either  historical  or  exegetical.  At 
7.30  P.M.  an  informal  service,  where  a  great  variety 
of  subjects  are  treated.  All  students  who  do  not  live 
at  home  are  required  to  attend  these  Sabbath  ser- 
vices. At  that  period  I  preached  half  of  the  time. 
Dr.  Long  and  Professor  Grosvenor  the  other  half. 
The  evening  services  were  conducted  by  the  tutors 
and  instructors  and  often  in  the  native  languages  or 
in  French.  At  these  services  it  is  intended  that  the 
teaching  shall  not  be  polemical  and  shall  not  touch 
on  points  at  issue  between  the  churches.  No  attack 
is  ever  made  upon  any  religion,  but  the  essential 
and  practical  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  are 
presented   as   clearly  as   possible.    It   is  no  doubt 

85 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

true  that  this  religious  instruction  has  an  influence 
upon  the  students.  If  we  thought  that  it  did  not 
we  should  give  it  up.  The  old  Christian  churches 
have  long  since  come  to  appreciate  its  value,  and  I 
believe  that  it  is  the  religious  and  moral  influence  of 
the  College  which,  more  than  anything  else,  leads 
parents  to  send  their  sons  here.  Even  the  Turks 
appreciate  this  and  they  have  sometimes  said  to  me, 
*'I  send  my  son  here  that  he  may  be  brought  up 
with  English  morality,"  English  in  this  case  mean- 
ing Protestant. 

The  long  continued  and  violent  attacks  upon  the 
College  in  the  Armenian  papers  probably  had  some 
influence  in  stirring  up  the  Turkish  government  to 
adopt  hostile  measures.  The  Grand  Vizier  told  Mr. 
Boker,  the  American  minister,  that  the  government 
had  determined  to  prohibit  the  circulation  of  the 
Bible  in  any  language  and  that  they  would  not  allow 
that  Protestant  college  to  put  up  the  houses  we  had 
asked  for.  He  told  Sir  Henry  Elliott  that  they  had 
determined  to  oppose  Protestantism  with  all  their 
might  as  a  matter  of  patriotism.  This  Grand  Vizier 
was  a  tool  of  Russia  and  no  doubt  this  also  accounts 
in  some  measure  for  his  opposition  to  England  and 
to  Protestantism.  He  was  the  same  man  who,  dur- 
ing the  Crimean  War,  as  Turkish  commander  at 
Kars,  is  said  to  have  sold  the  place  to  Russia. 

Other  interesting  events  of  the  year  can  only  be 
noticed  very  briefly.  In  February  and  March  we 
had  great  snow-storms  and  cold  which  paralyzed  the 
city  and  threatened  us  with  starvation  at  the  Col- 
lege. Men  were  killed  and  eaten  by  wolves  within 
sight  of  the  College.   Wild  boars  were  shot  on  the 

86 


RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS 

shores  of  the  Bosphorus.  There  were  remnants  of 
these  snow-banks  on  the  hills  near  us  two  months 
later. 

In  the  summer  of  1873  Dr.  Long  had  gone  at  Mr. 
Robert's  request  to  Paris  and  Vienna  to  purchase 
the  apparatus  needed  in  his  department.  This 
came  early  in  the  year  and  attracted  much  atten- 
tion, bringing  us  many  visitors  of  different  nation- 
alities, including  Turkish  pashas,  who  were  much 
impressed  by  the  experiments  which  they  saw. 

April  1  we  had  our  first  Junior  exhibition,  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  Grosvenor.  The  new 
study  hall  was  crowded  with  guests,  and  the  orations, 
ten  in  number,  were  remarkably  good.  The  moral 
and  religious  tone  breathing  through  them  im- 
pressed the  audience  most  favorably. 

Aside  from  the  Armenian  troubles  the  year  was  a 
peaceful  one,  although  two  students  had  to  be  ex- 
pelled for  engaging  in  a  diabolical  plot  against  one 
of  their  companions.  The  health  of  the  students 
after  the  great  storm  was  unusually  bad,  and  I  had 
to  send  my  son  to  America  in  May  with  Mrs.  Wash- 
burn as  he  was  threatened  with  tuberculosis.  Hap- 
pily he  recovered.  We  were  greatly  distressed  also 
by  hearing  of  the  illness  of  Dr.  Hamlin. 

The  number  of  students  present  at  the  close  of 
the  year  was  178,  of  whom  47  were  day  scholars,  31 
less  boarders  than  at  the  end  of  the  previous  year, 
representing  a  loss  in  tuition  of  some  five  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  not  strange  that  this  unhappy  experi- 
ence impressed  upon  us  and  upon  Mr.  Robert  the 
absolute  necessity  of  an  endowment.  Dr.  Long 
wrote  to  Mr.  Robert:   "To  secure  the  permanence 

87 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

of  the  College  it  must  be  sufficiently  endowed  to 
enable  it  to  tide  over  just  such  difficulties  as  this, 
even  if  they  should  take  away  four-fifths  of  our 
students.  Those  who  know  the  character  of  the 
nationalities  of  the  East,  know  that  a  popular  tu- 
mult is  very  easily  raised  and  a  storm  is  liable  to 
arise  at  any  time,  when  we  shall  be  in  danger  of 
going  down  so  long  as  we  are  pecuniarily  dependent 
on  their  patronage.  The  life  of  so  noble  an  institu- 
tion as  this  must  not  be  contingent  upon  the  favor  of 
a  fickle  populace,"  —  or,  he  would  have  added  a 
few  years  later,  of  political  disturbances  and  revolu- 
tions. 

The  Commencement  exercises  were  about  as  well 
attended  as  the  year  before  and  five  students  were 
graduated,  all  Bulgarians.  One  of  these  died  a  few 
years  later.  The  other  four  have  all  distinguished 
themselves  in  the  government  of  Bulgaria,  and  are 
still  living. 


88 


CHAPTER  VII 

VISIT   OF  MR.    ROBERT.     1874-1875 

It  was  evident,  even  at  the  opening  of  the  college 
year,  that  storms  were  gathering  about  us  in  the 
political  world  which  might  seriously  affect  our 
work.  The  Eastern  question  had  reached  a  critical 
period  when  some  form  of  European  intervention 
seemed  probable,  but  which  form  it  would  take 
could  not  be  foreseen.  In  Constantinople  Russia, 
under  the  lead  of  General  Ignatieff,  and  England, 
represented  by  Sir  Henry  Elliott,  were  both  playing 
a  dangerous  game,  which  ended  in  massacres,  revo- 
lution, war  and  the  dismemberment  of  European 
Turkey.  While  the  College  had  nothing  to  do  with 
these  political  intrigues  we  felt  the  influence  of  them 
in  many  ways.  Constantinople  was  in  a  ferment; 
there  was  a  vague  fear  of  what  might  happen  which 
kept  away  some  students  and  naturally  excited 
those  who  came.  We,  who  knew  what  was  going  on, 
could  not  but  feel  some  anxiety.  It  was  not  dimin- 
ished by  a  visit  which  I  paid  to  Bulgaria  in  the 
Easter  vacation  with  Mr.  Panaretoff .  I  had  never 
before  had  any  conception  of  the  suffering  of  the 
Christians  under  Turkish  rule,  but  I  saw  things 
there  which  filled  me  with  horror,  which  were  not 
so  much  direct  acts  of  the  government  as  the  results 
of  a  general  policy  —  the  tyranny  of  the  armed 
Turkish  minority  over  the  unarmed  and  helpless 

89 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Christian  majority.  It  was  not  so  bad  in  the  towns 
where  the  well-to-do  Bulgarians  kept  the  Turkish 
officials  in  their  pay,  but  the  peasants  were  practi- 
cally serfs  with  no  rights.  I  accidentally  met  one 
young  man  who  confessed  that  he  belonged  to  a 
company  which  was  planning  a  rebellion  against 
the  government,  and  I  spent  an  hour  in  trying  to 
convince  him  of  the  utter  folly  of  such  an  attempt, 
which  was  certain  to  fail  and  could  only  add  to  the 
suffering  of  the  people.  Such  outbreaks  had  taken 
place  near  the  Danube,  under  the  secret  patronage 
of  Russia,  but  were  easily  put  down. 

Notwithstanding  these  political  troubles  the  year 
opened  and  passed  away  without  any  disturbance 
of  the  peace  of  the  College.  Our  staff  consisted  of 
the  director,  Professors  Long,  Grosvenor  and  Dje- 
djizian.  Mr.  Panaretoff  was  also  appointed  adjunct 
professor  of  Slavic  and  Bulgarian.  Our  tutors  were 
Messrs.  Arthur  Hoyt,  Webber,  Savage  and  Webster. 
There  were  seven  other  teachers.  Mr.  Hoyt  lost  his 
health  and  very  nearly  his  life  from  malaria  result- 
ing from  a  summer  excursion  through  Bulgaria,  and 
to  our  great  regret  was  obliged  to  return  to  America, 
where  in  time  he  recovered,  to  become  a  distin- 
guished professor  in  Auburn  Theological  Seminary. 
Mr.  Webber  had  charge  of  the  Preparatory  Depart- 
ment.   Miss  Haynes  came  as  matron  in  November. 

The  whole  number  of  students  registered  during 
the  year  was  208.  The  number  present  at  the  close 
of  the  year  was  176. 

Boarders  .         .         .     144 

Day  scholars     .         .         .32  —  176 
90 


VISIT  OF  MR.  ROBERT 

As  all  of  the  Bulgarians  were  boarders,  they  were 
more  numerous  than  any  other  nationality  in  Ham- 
lin Hall. 

The  nationalities  represented  were  as  follows : 


Armenians  . 

.     55 

Greeks 

48 

Bulgarians  . 

45 

English 

21 

Americans  . 

8 

Turks 

6 

Jews 

6 

Germans 

6 

Italians 

4 

Dalmatians 

.      2 

French 

.      2 

Austrians    . 

.      2 

Dutch 

1 

Russian 

1 

Pole    . 

1—208 

The  most  interesting  event  during  the  year  was 
the  visit  of  Mr.  Robert,  who  reached  the  College 
June  12,  1875,  and  lived  in  Hamlin  Hall  until  after 
the  Commencement  exercises,  just  six  weeks.  At 
the  time  of  his  first  visit  we  were  still  in  Bebec.  It 
has  been  said  many  times  that  Robert  College  was 
the  product  of  Dr.  Hamlin's  brains  and  Mr.  Rob- 
ert's money.  Dr.  Hamlin  never  said  this,  and  it  is 
no  disparagement  of  him  to  say  that  Mr.  Robert 
not  only  gave  his  money  and  his  heart  to  the  Col- 
lege, but  that  every  step  that  was  taken  from  the 
first  conception  of  the  College  to  the  time  of  his 

91 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

death  was  fully  discussed  with  him  and  largely  in- 
fluenced by  his  judgment.  It  was  to  his  credit  that 
when  an  agreement  could  not  be  reached  with  Dr. 
Hamlin  or  with  me  he  never  used  his  authority  to 
override  our  judgment,  but  left  the  final  decision 
with  us.  His  two  visits  to  the  College  were  devoted 
to  the  most  careful  study  of  existing  conditions  and 
future  development  —  to  getting  light  on  every- 
thing connected  with  the  work.  He  talked  with  all 
the  teachers,  made  the  acquaintance  of  students  and 
their  parents,  consulted  the  missionaries  and  other 
foreign  residents  and  listened  to  everything  that  any 
one  wished  to  say  about  the  College.  He  investi- 
gated every  department  of  work,  and  this  not  as  a 
matter  of  curiosity  or  a  question  of  expense,  but 
that  he  might  be  able  to  give  more  intelligent  advice 
in  what  was  the  one  thing  that  he  was  always  insist- 
ing upon  —  the  necessity  of  steady  growth.  He 
gave  us  the  best  he  had  of  brain  work  as  well  as  of 
money. 

He  entered  heartily  into  the  social  life  of  the  Col- 
lege and  the  city,  and  he  told  me  after  his  departure 
that  he  had  never  spent  six  happier  weeks  in  his  life. 
He  greatly  enjoyed  a  grand  picnic  that  he  gave  to 
the  teachers  and  students  of  the  College.  He  char- 
tered a  steamboat  and  made  an  excursion  up  to  the 
Black  Sea,  returning  to  Hunkiar  Iskelessi,  where  we 
had  our  dinner  under  the  trees,  with  speeches  and 
sports  afterwards,  getting  back  to  the  College  in  the 
evening.  He  also  gave  a  breakfast  to  the  mission- 
aries and  their  wives  at  Buyukdere.  He  found 
them  more  friendly  to  the  College  than  they  had 
been  five  years  before.    His  addresses  to  the  stu- 

92 


VISIT  OF  MR.  ROBERT 

dents  were  very  practical,  and  they  were  greatly  in- 
terested in  what  he  told  them  of  his  own  early  life 
and  the  lessons  that  he  had  learned  from  the  Book 
of  Proverbs.  He  gave  each  student  a  copy  of  the 
book,  and  I  have  often  had  occasion  since  to  quote 
his  authority,  in  addition  to  that  of  Solomon,  as  to 
how  a  young  man  was  to  win  success  in  life. 

In  those  early  years  he  was  a  subject  of  much 
discussion  among  the  people  of  the  country,  who 
could  not  understand  what  motive  prompted  him 
to  found  the  College.  I  have  often  heard  it  dis- 
cussed on  the  Bosphorus  steamers.  Mr.  Hanson, 
the  English  banker,  told  me  that  he  heard  this  con- 
versation between  two  Turkish  gentlemen.  *'Do 
you  see  that  College.?"  "Yes."  "Well,  in  my 
opinion  it  is  the  greatest  disgrace  to  the  Turks  of 
anything  in  Constantinople."  "Why  so,  I  never 
thought  of  that.  It  is  a  fine  building."  "So  it  is, 
but  what  does  it  mean.''  Here  was  a  stranger,  an 
American  gentleman,  who  came  to  Constantinople 
for  a  few  days  and  was  so  impressed  with  the  neces- 
sities of  our  people,  with  their  ignorance  and  their 
need  of  education,  that  he  took  his  own  money  and 
built  this  splendid  College  and  endowed  it  for  the 
good  of  those  who  were  strangers  to  him.  We  have 
hundreds  of  rich  pashas,  some  of  the  richest  living 
in  sight  of  this  College.  Which  of  them  ever  saw  or 
cared  for  the  wants  of  the  people  or  gave  a  piaster  of 
his  money  to  educate  them.?  This  College  is  a 
shame  and  disgrace  to  us."  The  native  Christians 
often  said,  "He  did  it  for  his  soul,"  i.  e.  to  purchase 
a  high  seat  for  himself  in  heaven.  There  were 
many,  however,  who  had  a  sufficient  appreciation 

93 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

of  his  motives  and  of  the  advantages  the  College 
had  brought  to  them  to  express,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
to  feel,  gratitude  —  and  now  I  seldom  hear  any 
other  comment. 

One  important  subject  of  discussion  when  Mr. 
Robert  was  here  was  the  question  of  the  title  to  the 
land  which  we  had  bought  since  the  first  purchase, 
which  was  made  secure  by  the  trade.  The  other 
land  w  as  held  by  a  legal  fiction  —  in  the  name  of 
"Mariam  bint  Toma"  which  was  Mrs.  Hamlin, 
who  had  been  registered  under  that  name  as  a 
Turkish  subject.  English  and  other  foreign  insti- 
tutions held  their  property  in  the  name  of  the  con- 
sulates or  embassies;  but  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment refused  to  allow  this,  and  for  a  long  time 
refused  to  sign  the  protocol  allowing  Americans  to 
hold  property  in  their  own  names.  It  was  tempo- 
rarily transferred  to  me  as  director  of  the  College, 
and  a  few  months  ago  (1906)  the  greater  part  of  it, 
after  all  these  years  of  negotiation,  was  secured  to 
the  College  by  irade  —  which  reminds  me  that  it 
took  thirty  years  to  get  permission  to  build,  at  our 
own  expense,  a  sewer  from  the  College  to  the  Bos- 
phorus.  These  delays  to  which  we  are  always  sub- 
ject do  not  come  from  any  hostility  to  the  College 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  but  from  the  nature 
of  the  government  itself,  and  are  the  common  expe- 
rience of  all,  natives  and  foreigners.  Much  also 
depends  upon  the  character  and  spirit  of  the  min- 
ister who  represents  the  United  States  government 
here.  We  were  particularly  fortunate  at  this  time  in 
the  appointment  of  Horace  Maynard,  who  arrived 
here  in  May,  1875,  who  was  not  only  a  statesman 

94 


VISIT  OF  MR.  ROBERT 


of  great  ability,  but  an  earnest  Christian  in  full 
sympathy  with  our  work.  Many  of  the  ministeTS 
sent  here  to  represent  the  United  j^tntofl  hav,e  had 
no  wlHTTSt  \vlKitcvcr  in  the  Americans  resident  in 
2^^^|.^y  QTwl  have  liad  as  Httle  to  do  with  thprn_as 
possible.    Perg^n-^lly  ^  hnve  never  had  occasion  to 


complam  of  anv  one^of  them.   Fnr  mnny  T  havpliaiT^,, 
niffhest  res 


the  hip;hest  respect;  but  tlicrc  have  been  times  when^^ 
if  It  had  not  been  fqy  ^n^-  inti'TnafP  rp]^^|jons  with  the^ 
British  Embassy,  the  College  would  have  fared  very  ^ 
baaiy.    It  has  generaiiy,  not  always,  been  true  that 
tlie  English  government  has  shown  niueh  greater  in- 
teresl  intEe'CoIlege  than  tlie  government  at  Wtiijh- 
ington.  ~X^  distinguished  Engfefonan  who  visited^ 
Waijlllllglun   wll^h  Mr.  Bayard  was  Secretary  of 
State  was  amazed  to  tind  that  he  had  never  heard  of 
•RnWj-  ri^llppjp.    T  suppose  that  Mr.  Bavafd   was  "" 
jually  astonished  to  learn  that  this  Englishman  - 
thought  that  the  founding  of  Robert  College  was  the"" 
mofifer important  thing  that  America  had  donE-in 
Europe.    Mr.  Hay  was  the  bestfriend  that  we  have 
everjiad  in  the  State  Department.  'Mf.~Btaiue  was  ' 
also  V-ery  friendly.   No  President  has  .<ihown  moye^ 
iyitfrpst  in  thp  (^ftUe^e  than  Mr.  Roosevelt.   Some 
of  the  distinguished  ministers  who  have  been  here 
have  been  warm  friends,  and  all  of  them  have  been 
ready  to  preside  at  our  Commencement  exercises 
and  thus  give  their  official  sanction  to  the  College. 
Among  them  all  we  have  had  no  better  minister 
than  Horace  Maynard  and  none  to  whom  the  Col- 
lege owes  more.    I  do  not  think  that  any  minister 
here  has  ever  won  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the 
Turkish  government  so  fully  as  he  did.   The  famous 

95 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

editor  of  the  Louisville  Courier- Journal  told  me,  some 
years  after  the  war,  that  he  considered  Mr.  Maynard 
the  greatest  man  in  the  South  who  remained  loyal  to 
the  government.  He  was  rather  a  singular  looking 
man,  and  it  was  said  at  the  time  that  the  Sultan,  after 
his  presentation,  inquired  whether  he  was  an  Ameri- 
can dervish.  But  he  soon  acquired  great  influence, 
by  his  straightforward  integrity  and  the  skill  with 
which  he  defended  every  American  interest,  while 
carefully  abstaining  from  all  association  with  the 
great  political  intrigues  which  were  going  on  at  the 
time. 

The  class  work  of  the  College  went  on  very  satis- 
factorily during  the  year.  We  had  settled  down 
upon  a  programme  of  studies  for  the  four  college 
classes  which  was  based  upon  what  was  generally 
adopted  at  that  time  in  New  England  colleges,  but 
modified  to  adapt  it  to  the  practical  wants  of  our 
students.  The  great  practical  difficulty  which  we 
had  to  meet  was  the  multiplicity  of  languages. 
There  was  no  escape  to  giving  a  prominent  place  to 
English.  That  was  the  language  of  the  College.  If 
we  did  not  require  Latin  the  European  universities 
would  not  recognize  our  diplomas.  Every  student 
wished  to  study  French.  Armenians,  Bulgarians, 
Greeks  and  Turks  must  have  thorough  instruction 
in  their  own  languages  and  in  the  ancient  languages 
from  which  these  were  derived,  or  they  could  never 
hold  their  places  among  their  own  people.  This 
meant  that  each  student  must  study  at  least  five 
languages  —  probably  Turkish  also  for  Turkish 
subjects.  As  there  was  no  escape  from  all  this  lin- 
guistic work,  the  question  was  how  to  find  time  for 

96 


VISIT  OF  MR.  ROBERT 

anything  else.  We  have  since  added  a  year  to  the 
college  course  and  put  four  years  into  the  Prepara- 
tory Department,  but  in  1875  this  was  not  prac- 
ticable. It  did  not  trouble  us  that  we  had  to  depart 
from  American  standards,  for  it  was  our  duty  to 
adapt  the  College  to  the  circumstances  of  the  East, 
but  we  had  to  learn  from  experience  that  the  study 
of  modern  European  languages  and  an  introduction 
to  their  literature  was  worth  quite  as  much  to  our 
students  as  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek  had  been 
to  us.  We  give  more  time  to  the  native  languages 
now  than  we  did  then. 

At  that  time  we  took  our  students  through  Alge- 
bra, Geometry,  Trigonometry,  Surveying,  Ana- 
lytical Geometry,  and  Conic  Sections,  giving  six 
hours  a  week  to  these  mathematical  studies.  In 
Science  they  had  Zoology,  Physics,  Physiology, 
Chemistry,  Botany,  Geology  and  Mineralogy,  and 
Astronomy,  in  this  order,  an  average  of  five  hours  a 
week.  History  three  hours  a  week.  Political  Econ- 
omy, Rhetoric,  Parliamentary  Law,  Physical  Geog- 
raphy, Psychology,  Ethics,  History  of  Philosophy, 
History  of  Civilization,  International  Law,  each  five 
or  six  hours  a  week  for  one  term.  There  were  no 
optional  studies  in  the  course,  but  some  students  did 
get  additional  work  in  some  branches.  This  course 
of  study  was  quite  equal  to  that  of  any  American 
College  fifty  years  ago,  and  there  was  no  school  in 
this  country  which  at  that  time  even  professed  to 
equal  it.  To  most  people  here  it  seemed  unneces- 
sarily extended.  They  would  have  been  quite  con- 
tented with  the  languages,  arithmetic  and  a  little 
science,  the  latter  just  for  the  name  of  it.    It  is  due 

97 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  those  who  were  teachers  in  the  College  at  that 
time  to  say  that  so  far  as  it  went  the  instruction  in 
all  these  branches  was  honest  and  thorough. 
There  was  no  pretense  or  humbug  about  it. 

The  number  of  graduates  in  1875  was  11,  7  Bul- 
garians, 3  Armenians  and  1  Greek,  all  but  2  of 
whom  are  still  living  (1907).  The  Armenians  and 
the  Greek  are  all  merchants,  one  of  the  Bulgarians 
was  a  distinguished  teacher,  one  has  been  Prime 
Minister,  one  has  been  several  times  a  minister,  one 
was  private  secretary  of  Prince  Alexander  and  later 
of  Prince  Ferdinand,  and  the  others  have  occupied 
important  positions  in  Bulgaria. 

Commencement  in  those  early  years  of  the  Col- 
lege was  in  some  respects  a  more  important  and 
more  interesting  affair  than  it  has  been  since  1894. 
There  was  a  freedom  of  speech  which  has  not  been 
possible  of  late  years.  Our  audiences  were  neces- 
sarily limited  by  the  size  of  the  study  hall,  which 
however  was  always  crowded,  with  more  or  less 
Turkish  women  looking  in  at  the  windows.  One 
afternoon  was  devoted  to  prize  speaking,  and  that 
evening  in  1875  was  occupied  by  an  English  spelling 
match.  Sometimes  it  was  a  prize  debate  between 
two  classes.  On  Commencement  Day  only  invited 
guests  were  admitted,  and  after  the  orations  of  the 
graduating  class  in  various  languages,  addresses 
were  made  by  the  distinguished  official  guests  who 
occupied  the  places  of  honor  on  the  platform.  In 
1875  the  principal  speakers  were  Mr.  Maynard 
and  Mr.  Robert.  It  was  on  this  occasion  also  that 
prizes  were  announced  and  given  out  for  the  prize 
speaking,  for  the  highest  rank  in  scholarship  in  the 

98 


VISIT  OF  MR.  ROBERT 

different  classes  and  for  special  work  in  certain  de- 
partments. At  the  close  of  the  exercises  the  guests 
were  entertained  at  lunch  in  the  college  dining 
room. 

That  year  Mrs.  Washburn,  who  had  returned 
from  America  in  November,  and  I  spent  the  sum- 
mer vacation  in  Switzerland,  and  Mr.  Robert  went 
with  us  as  far  as  Zurich,  where  we  met  our  son  re- 
turning in  good  health  from  America. 


00 


CHAPTER  VIII 

POLITICAL   CRISIS   IN   TURKEY.     1875-1876 

This  is  in  no  sense  a  history  of  Turkey,  but  it  is 
impossible  to  write  a  history  of  the  College  at  this 
period  without  some  reference  to  our  environment, 
and  an  explanation  of  our  relations  to  what  was 
taking  place  about  us,  and  it  should  be  made  clear 
at  the  outset  that  Dr.  Long  and  I  were  personally 
responsible  for  the  attitude  of  the  College  at  this 
time.  Dr.  Hamlin  w^as  so  violently  anti-Russian  in 
his  sympathies  that  he  was  the  principal  advocate 
of  Turkey  in  the  United  States  and  was  officially 
thanked  for  this  by  the  Turkish  government.  Mr. 
Robert  had  always  forbidden  all  meddling  with 
political  affairs,  and  he  was  right.  This  has  always 
been  the  policy  of  the  College.  It  was  mine  and  Dr. 
Long's.  The  College  has  always  used  all  its  influ- 
ence to  keep  the  students  out  of  politics  and  to 
make  them  realize  the  folly  of  rebellion  against  the 
government.  We  have  always  recognized  our  duty 
to  respect  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  no  official 
complaint  has  ever  been  made  against  us  by  the 
Turkish  government,  nor  was  any  complaint  ever 
made  against  Dr.  Long  or  me  as  individuals,  al- 
though it  is  true  that  great  political  changes  were 
brought  about  in  some  measure  by  our  personal 
influence.  We  did  our  best  to  prevent  the  outbreak 
in  Bulgaria  which  was  the  excuse  for  the  massacre 

100 


POLITICAL  CRISIS  IN  TURKEY 

which  followed;  but  when  it  was  a  question  of  the 
massacre  of  thousands  of  innocent  and  unarmed 
Bulgarians,  men,  women  and  children,  we  did 
everything  in  our  power  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  We  saw 
then,  what  the  Turks  see  now,  that  this  massacre 
was  one  of  the  greatest  blunders  that  they  have  ever 
made.  We  did  our  best  through  the  British  Em- 
bassy to  make  them  see  it  at  that  time.  Whatever 
we  did  we  reported  to  Mr.  Robert  from  week  to 
week,  and  in  the  end  we  had  his  full  approval. 

When  the  College  opened  in  September,  1875,  the 
situation  of  political  affairs  in  Constantinople  was 
alarming  and  complicated.  There  was  a  Turkish 
conspiracy,  supported  by  England,  secretly  working 
against  Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz,  who  was  defended  by 
Russia;  and  a  serious  insurrection  against  the  Turks 
had  broken  out  in  Herzegovina,  also  one  of  little  im- 
portance in  Bulgaria.  The  Grand  Vizier,  Mah- 
moud  Nedim  Pasha,  who  lived  just  below  the  Col- 
lege, was  the  tool  of  Russia,  and  there  is  evidence 
that  he  had  arranged  for  the  sending  of  Russian 
troops  to  Constantinople  to  defend  the  Sultan.  The 
alarm  and  excitement  in  the  city  was  increased  by 
his  communication  to  the  embassies  that  he  had 
discovered  a  plot  for  the  massacre  of  Christians  and 
foreigners,  and  by  his  stopping  the  payment  of  in- 
terest on  the  national  debt  and  seizing  all  the  hy- 
pothecated revenues.  Mr.  Robert  was  so  much 
alarmed  by  the  news  that  he  proposed  to  send  us  a 
consignment  of  rifles  to  defend  the  College,  which 
we  declined.  As  time  went  on  Servia  and  Monte- 
negro threatened  war  and  aided  the  revolutionists 
in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  while  the  European 

101 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Powers  prepared  to  intervene.  This  resulted  in  the 
"Andrassy  Note,"  which  was  a  demand  for  certain 
reforms  in  the  insurgent  provinces.  The  Sultan 
tried  to  forestall  this  by  issuing  an  irade  decreeing 
general  reforms  in  the  empire.  The  Powers  re- 
garded this  as  so  much  waste  paper.  Nothing  came 
of  either  the  irade  or  the  note,  except  more  general 
discontent  and  excitement.  Thus  ended  the  year 
1875. 

Meanwhile  the  College  had  opened  with  137 
boarders,  of  whom  33  were  Bulgarians,  and  30  day 
scholars  —  167  students  in  all,  only  9  less  than  at 
the  close  of  the  previous  year,  which  was  evidence 
that  the  public  regarded  the  College  as  a  safe  refuge. 
We  had  one  new  tutor,  Mr.  McLean  from  Hamilton 
College,  whose  health  gave  out  so  that  he  left  before 
the  end  of  the  year.  Some  friends  —  missionaries 
in  Persia  —  came  in  September  to  spend  the  night 
with  us,  and  that  night  one  of  the  children  came 
down  with  what  proved  to  be  typhoid  fever.  It  was 
nine  weeks  before  they  could  leave  us,  happily  all 
well.  It  was  during  this  autumn  that  began  the 
stream  of  distinguished  English  visitors  to  the  Col- 
lege, which  continued  for  twenty-five  years,  bring- 
ing us  into  acquaintance  with  many  of  the  leading 
statesmen  and  philanthropists  of  England.  Lord 
Campbell  and  Lady  Strangford  were  among  the 
first.  She  was  especially  interested  in  the  people 
of  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  the  College  was  al- 
ready known  in  Europe  for  its  connection  with  the 
Bulgarians.  The  winter  passed  quietly  at  the  Col- 
lege, although  every  one  saw  that  a  storm  was  gath- 
ering all  about  us  which  would  bring  changes  of 

102 


POLITICAL  CRISIS  IN  TURKEY 

some  kind,  either  for  good  or  evil,  and  there  was  a 
constant  exchange  of  notes  between  the  Powers, 
which  came  to  nothing. 

May  2,  187G,  there  was  an  insurrection  in  the 
mountain  towns  not  far  from  PhilippopoHs  in  Bul- 
garia. It  had  been  planned  for  several  months,  and 
the  Turkish  government  was  fully  informed  of  the 
details  of  the  plan  and  of  those  engaged  in  it.  The 
Turkish  governor  at  PhilippopoHs  had  implored 
the  government  at  Constantinople  to  allow  him  to 
put  a  stop  to  it,  and  had  promised  to  guarantee  ab- 
solute quiet,  if  a  single  regiment  of  troops  were  sent 
to  him.  But  the  Turks  anticipated  a  war  with 
Servia  and  wished  to  find  a  pretext  to  terrorize  this 
part  of  Bulgaria,  which  commanded  the  road  to 
Servia,  before  the  war  broke  out,  so  they  had  quietly 
fostered  this  revolutionary  movement  which  was 
too  insignificant  to  constitute  any  real  danger. 
They  had  withdrawn  their  troops,  but  the  whole 
Turkish  population  was  armed,  while  the  Chris- 
tians were  unarmed,  and  all  arrangements  had 
been  made  to  give  over  the  Christian  population  to 
the  tender  mercies  of  the  Turkish  militia  (Bashi- 
bozooks),  having  first,  as  far  as  possible,  cut  off  all 
communication  between  Bulgaria  and  the  outside 
world.  The  results  are  too  well  known  to  be  de- 
tailed here.  In  these  first  massacres  and  the  reign 
of  terror  which  followed  fifty  or  sixty  thousand 
men,  women  and  children  were  massacred  in  cold 
blood,  sold  as  slaves  or  judicially  murdered.  It 
was  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that  in  their 
terror  and  helplessness  the  Bulgarians  should  have 
thought  of  us,  who  had  no  political  interests  at  stake, 

103 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

as  friends  whom  they  could  trust  to  help  them,  and 
they  found  means  to  communicate  to  us  the  details 
of  what  was  going  on  from  week  to  week.  At  the 
outset  we  alone  had  these  details,  and  what  we  did 
with  them  is  no  secret.  It  was  no  secret  at  the  time 
that  we  first  of  all  gave  them  to  Sir  Henry  Elliott,  the 
British  ambassador,  who  was  a  warm  personal 
friend  of  ours  and  who  represented  a  government 
which  was  at  that  time  the  chief  supporter  of 
Turkey  in  Europe.  We  did  this  in  the  hope  that 
he  could  make  the  Turks  see  that  they  were  making 
a  terrible  mistake.  We  also  communicated  the  facts 
to  powerful  friends  in  England  and  to  our  friends 
Mr.  Pears,  correspondent  of  the  Daily  News,  and 
Mr.  Galenga,  the  correspondent  of  the  London 
Times.  Could  we  have  done  less  or  acted  more 
honorably  ?  It  will  be  seen  later  on  that  Sir  Henry 
Elliott  was  at  this  time  engaged  in  a  conspiracy 
which  he  regarded  as  likely  to  change  the  whole  face 
of  affairs  in  Turkey. 

The  day  after  the  outbreak  in  Bulgaria,  of  which 
the  world  knew  nothing,  all  Europe  was  startled  by 
the  murder  of  the  French  and  German  consuls  at 
Salonica  by  a  fanatical  Mohammedan  mob.  This 
increased  the  excitement  in  Constantinople,  which 
was  already  at  fever  heat,  and  when,  a  week  later, 
a  mob  of  thousands  of  Moslem  theological  students 
{softas)  rushed  through  the  streets  of  Stamboul  on 
their  way  to  the  palace  to  demand  the  dismissal  of 
the  Grand  Vizier  and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  the  whole 
city  realized  that  it  was  at  the  mercy  of  revolution- 
ists. The  Sultan  yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  mob, 
and  another  near  neighbor  of  ours  was  made  Grand 

104 


SULTAN   ABDUL-AZIZ 


POLITICAL  CRISIS  IN  TURKEY 

Vizier  in  place  of  Mahmoud  Nedim.  A  little  more 
than  two  weeks  after  this  (May  30)  the  city  was 
roused  in  the  morning  by  the  roar  of  cannon  which 
announced  the  advent  of  a  new  Sultan,  Murad. 
Abd-ul-Aziz  had  been  dethroned  in  the  nijrht. 
This  was  the  outcome  of  the  conspiracy  to  which  I 
have  referred.  The  real  leader  in  this  was  the  Min- 
ister of  War,  Hussein  Avni  Pasha,  supported  by  the 
new  Grand  Vizier,  Mahomet  Ruchdi  Pasha,  and 
the  new  Sheik-ul-Islam,  who  had  given  afetva  (de- 
cision) authorizing  the  act.  Kaisarli  Achmet  Pasha, 
the  Minister  of  Marine,  who  controlled  the  iron- 
clads anchored  before  the  palace,  joined  them.  The 
supposed  leader  was  Midhat  Pasha,  and  it  was 
through  him  that  Sir  Henry  Elliott  was  brought  into 
the  plot  and  the  support  of  England  secured.  Her 
Mediterranean  fleet  arrived  oft'  the  Dardanelles  the 
day  before  the  act  and  w^as  ready  to  come  to  Con- 
stantinople in  case  of  need.  Murad,  the  new  Sul- 
tan, who  lived  in  the  palace  with  his  uncle,  had  not 
been  forewarned;  and,  when  he  was  taken  by  armed 
men,  he  believed  that  he  was  to  be  put  to  death.  He 
never  recovered  from  the  shock  sufficiently  to  as- 
sume any  control  of  the  government.  The  week 
which  followed  was  one  of  w^ld  excitement  in  the 
city,  at  first  of  joy  and  satisfaction,  but  as  the  days 
went  on  there  was  a  decided  reaction  against  the 
revolution  among  the  Turks  in  favor  of  the  old  Sul- 
tan. At  the  close  of  the  week  it  was  suddenly  an- 
nounced that  Abd-ul-Aziz  had  committed  suicide. 
Nobody  believed  it  at  the  time;  and  after  hearing  all 
the  evidence  my  own  belief  is  that  he  was  murdered 
by  order  of  the  new  administration  through  fear  of  a 

105 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

counter-revolution,  though  Queen  Victoria  had  tele- 
graphed to  Sir  Henry  Elliott  to  protect  his  life. 

This  was  not  the  end  of  the  tragedy.  A  few  days 
later  there  was  a  council  of  ministers  at  the  house 
of  Midhat  Pasha.  A  Circassian  officer,  whose  sister 
had  been  a  favorite  of  Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz,  obtained 
admission  to  the  house,  entered  the  chamber  and 
shot  Hussein  Avni  Pasha  and  the  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs,  very  nearly  killed  the  Minister  of  Ma- 
rine and  killed  several  of  the  attendants  before  he 
was  captured.  As  the  house  had  been  left  un- 
guarded and  no  attack  was  made  upon  Midhat 
Pasha,  it  was  suspected  at  the  time  that  he  might 
have  had  knowledge  of  this  attack,  the  result  of 
which  was  to  make  him  the  principal  power  in  the 
state.  The  officer  was  hanged  without  examination 
or  trial.  This  new  shock  still  further  demoralized 
the  Sultan  and  incapacitated  him  for  all  business. 
At  the  end  of  August,  1876,  he  also  was  deposed  and 
his  brother  made  Sultan.  In  this  change  also  Sir 
Henry  Elliott  took  the  lead,  and  Abd-ul-Hamid  be- 
came Sultan.  His  brother  was  kept  a  close  prisoner 
until  he  died  some  thirty  years  later.  Meanwhile 
Servia  and  Montenegro  had  declared  war  against 
Turkey  in  July,  and  the  story  of  the  Bulgarian  mas- 
sacres had  roused  no  little  excitement  in  the  Chris- 
tian world,  especially  in  England,  where  it  was  felt 
that  the  English  government  was  largely  respon- 
sible for  existing  conditions  in  Turkey,  —  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  true. 

During  the  spring  and  summer,  while  these  events 
were  taking  place,  there  was  a  general  feeling  of  in- 
security in  Constantinople,  and  unpleasant  incidents 

106 


POLITICAL  CRISIS  IN  TURKEY 

were  very  frequent.  We  did  not  know  what  to  ex- 
pect from  one  day  to  another,  as  the  city  was  filled 
with  half  savage  irregular  troops  who  were  under 
very  little  control.  We  were  always  on  the  watch, 
and  one  day  the  alarm  was  given  that  a  large  armed 
band  was  coming  down  upon  the  College  from  the 
hill  above  us.  Happily  the  students  were  all  in  the 
building,  and  having  given  orders  that  no  one  should 
be  seen  at  the  windows  and  that  all  doors  should  be 
closed,  Dr.  Long  and  I  went  out  unarmed  to  face 
the  mob,  who  were  already  entering  our  grounds. 
They  were  Turks,  mostly  young,  who  had  come 
several  miles  from  the  Arsenal  on  the  Golden  Horn 
to  make  an  end  of  the  Bulgarians.  It  was  a  trying 
quarter  of  an  hour  that  we  had,  not  to  be  forgotten; 
but  they  were  evidently  puzzled  by  finding  no  one 
but  two  foreigners,  who  met  them  without  any  ap- 
pearance of  fear  and  quietly  explained  to  them  that 
they  were  trespassing  on  our  ground.  If  they  had 
had  an  enterprising  and  fearless  leader  I  do  not 
know  what  would  have  happened,  but  it  was  a  mob 
without  leaders;  and  when  they  came  to  face  us  and 
our  authority,  their  courage  failed  them,  and  in  the 
course  of  half  an  hour  we  had  won  the  day.  Extraor- 
dinary stories  are  current  in  America  of  the  de- 
vices which  we  resorted  to  in  defense  of  the  College 
during  this  and  the  following  year,  such  as  that  we 
met  a  night  attack  by  parading  a  skeleton  rubbed 
with  phosphorus.  There  is  no  truth  in  this  or  any 
of  these  stories.  Another  incident,  which  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  unsettled  conditions  of  the  time, 
occurred  in  June,  1876.  I  was  sitting  in  my  office 
one  evening  when  a  servant  came  to  say  that  a 

107 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Turkish  pasha  begged  to  see  me.  He  had  just 
arrived  on  horseback.  I  invited  him  in.  He  proved 
to  be  a  fine  looking,  well-dressed  gentleman,  per- 
haps fifty  years  old.  He  introduced  himself  as 
Ibrahim  Pasha,  and  after  the  usual  exchange  of 
compliments  he  told  me  that  he  had  just  escaped 
assassination  and  come  to  take  refuge  in  the  College. 
Would  I  protect  him.?  I  bid  him  welcome,  gave 
him  dinner  and  a  bed,  but  I  reminded  him  that, 
although  this  was  American  territory,  the  authori- 
ties could  apply  to  the  American  minister  and  he 
would  have  to  give  him  up.  I  excused  myself  and 
went  over  to  see  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha,  to  see  what 
he  knew  of  the  man  and  what  he  would  advise  me 
to  do.  He  knew  all  about  the  man  and  advised  me 
to  send  him  to  take  refuge  in  the  British  Embassy  at 
Therapia.  I  proposed  this  to  Ibrahim  Pasha,  and 
he  agreed  to  do  it;  so  I  gave  him  a  letter  to  the  am- 
bassador and  he  started  in  the  early  morning,  but 
he  never  reached  the  Embassy,  and  I  could  never 
find  out  what  became  of  him.  Probably  the  author- 
ities were  on  the  watch  for  him.  It  is  not  uncom- 
mon for  people  to  disappear  in  Constantinople. 

While  these  things  were  happening  in  Constan- 
tinople the  reign  of  terror  continued  in  Bulgaria,  and 
we  communicated  information  about  it  to  Sir  Henry 
Elliott  and  to  our  friends  in  England.  The  Turkish 
government  denied  the  truth  of  these  statements  to 
Sir  Henry,  and,  in  the  confusion  which  prevailed 
liere  at  that  time,  it  is  very  likely  that  the  govern- 
ment really  knew  very  little  of  what  was  going  on  in 
Bulgaria.  It  was  under  Abd-ul-Aziz  that  the  mas- 
sacres were  planned  and  commenced.    But  we  had 

108 


POLITICAL  CRISIS  IN  TURKEY 

to  face  a  more  serious  difficulty.  It  was  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  Turks  would  deny  everything ;  but 
Mr.  Disraeli,  the  English  Prime  Minister,  declared 
in  Parliament  that  the  reports,  for  some  of  which  we 
were  responsible  and  which  he  must  have  known 
came  from  us,  were  "mere  coffee  house  babble" 
and  without  any  foundation  —  that  he  had  official 
information  to  this  effect.  We  begged  Sir  Henry 
Elliott  to  send  one  of  his  own  secretaries  to  Bulgaria 
to  investigate  and  report  to  him.  After  excusing 
himself  for  some  time  he  sent  for  me  one  day  and 
told  me  that  he  had  at  last  received  orders  to  do  so, 
and  that  he  would  send  Mr.  Baring  down  to  see  me 
before  he  started,  which  he  did.  But  before  that  I 
had  learned  from  Sir  Henry  himself  that  he  was  not 
only  sending  his  youngest  secretary,  who  knew  but 
little  of  the  country  and  none  of  the  languages,  with- 
out any  interpreter  who  knew  Bulgarian,  but  that 
he  was  to  get  his  information  from  the  Turkish 
authorities  and  to  be  in  the  country  only  two  or 
three  days.  I  protested  in  vain,  although  Mr.  Bar- 
ing agreed  with  me.    Sir  Henry  told  me  that  he  was 

actingr  under  instructions  from  home.    This  made  it 

... 

clear  that  there  was  to  be  no  real  investigation,  and 
what  was  wanted  by  Mr.  Disraeli  was  an  official  re- 
port to  confirm  his  statements  that  nothing  serious 
had  happened  in  Bulgaria.  There  was  nothing  left 
for  us  to  do  but  to  defend  our  honor  and  our  verac- 
ity as  best  we  could.  I  went  at  once  to  Mr.  May- 
nard,  explained  the  situation  to  him  and  begged  him 
to  send  Mr.  Schuyler,  who  had  just  arrived  in  Con- 
stantinople as  secretary  of  the  Legation  and  consul 
general,  to  make  an  independent  and  impartial  in- 

109 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

vestigation  of  the  situation  in  Bulgaria  with  proper 
interpreters  for  Turkish,  Bulgarian  and  Greek.  He 
said  that  he  had  no  authority  to  do  this,  but  that,  if  I 
could  persuade  Mr.  Schuyler  to  go,  he  would  find  a 
way  to  send  him.  I  found  it  easy  to  persuade  Mr. 
Schuyler,  and  he  left  Constantinople  with  his  inter- 
preters the  day  after  Mr.  Baring,  overtaking  him  at 
Adrianople.  Mr.  Baring  was  an  honest  man,  and  I 
do  not  think  that  he  was  sorry  to  find  himself 
checkmated  at  the  beginning  of  the  game.  He  saw 
at  once  that  Mr.  Schuyler's  report  would  be  ac- 
cepted and  believed  by  all  the  world.  I  do  not  know 
what  report  Mr.  Disraeli  got.  He  did  not  publish 
it;  but  the  first  result  of  Mr.  Schuyler's  preliminary 
report,  made  in  ten  days,  was  to  convert  Mr.  Glad- 
stone and  make  him  the  leader  in  the  great  agita- 
tion which  finally  overthrew  the  Disraeli  govern- 
ment, and  which  before  that  led  to  the  Conference 
of  Constantinople.  Mr.  Baring  went  with  Mr. 
Schuyler  to  Batak,  and  saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  un- 
buried  bodies  of  some  five  thousand  men,  women 
and  children  who  had  been  slaughtered  in  this  one 
town,  far  from  the  seat  of  the  insurrection.  Our 
graduate  Mr.  Peter  Dimitroff  went  with  Mr.  Schuy- 
ler as  his  Bulgarian  interpreter.  Could  we  have 
done  less  than  this  under  the  circumstances  ?  It  did 
not  in  any  way  interrupt  our  friendly  relations  with 
Sir  Henry  Elliott,  who  never  charged  us  with  having 
any  political  aims  in  view.  In  the  summer  vacation 
Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  went  to  the  Engadine  to  re- 
cruit my  health,  and  Professor  Panaretoff,  who  was 
with  us,  improved  the  opportunity  to  go  to  England 
and  see  our  friends  there.   He  was  in  the  Speaker's 

110 


POLITICAL  CRISIS  IN  TURKEY 

Gallery  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  heard  the 
last  speech  made  by  Mr.  Disraeli,  before  his  pro- 
motion to  the  House  of  Lords.  It  was  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Bulgarian  massacres. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  Turkish  authorities  ever 
thought  of  the  College  in  those  troublous  times,  al- 
though Mahomet  Ruchdi  Pasha,  the  Grand  Vizier, 
was  our  near  neighbor,  and  Midhat  Pasha  was  often  at 
his  house.  Dr.  Long  had  known  the  latter  very  well 
when  he  was  in  Bulgaria,  and  Midhat  was  himself  a 
Bulgarian  by  race  and  birth,  but  a  Pomak  or  Mo- 
hammedan Bulgarian.  Sir  Henry  Elliott's  faith  in 
him  was  absolute,  and  it  is  true  that  he  had  been  re- 
markably successful  as  a  provincial  governor  in 
Bulgaria  and  in  Bagdad.  I  once  spent  two  days 
with  him  on  an  Austrian  steamer,  and  we  discussed 
Turkey  most  of  the  time.  He  was  a  very  remark- 
able conversationalist,  and  his  head  was  full  of 
schemes  of  reform.  I  am  free  to  confess  that  he 
captivated  me;  but  Dr.  Long  did  not  believe  in  his 
capacity  to  reform  the  empire.  He  certainly  failed, 
and,  at  the  time  of  his  greatest  power,  he  failed  to 
organize  any  party  to  support  him  and  failed  to  get 
the  confidence  of  the  Sultan  whom  he  had  put  on 
the  throne.  He  was  finally  exiled  to  Arabia  and 
assassinated. 

To  return  to  what  is  more  strictly  the  history  of 
the  College.  Mr.  Robert  remained  in  Europe  until 
the  end  of  October,  1875.  Very  soon  after  his  re- 
turn to  America  it  was  evident  from  his  letters  that 
he  was  very  much  tried  by  the  financial  conditions 
there,  as  well  as  by  the  political  situation  at  Con- 
stantinople.  His  letters  were  full  of  exhortations  to 

111 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

economy  and  to  caution  about  mixing  in  political 
affairs.  His  advice  was  good,  and  we  did  our  best 
to  follow  it.  Some  of  the  things  which  we  did  in  the 
spring  alarmed  him,  and  he  was  evidently  in  doubt 
whether  to  adopt  Dr.  Hamlin's  opinions  or  ours 
about  Turkish  affairs.  We  told  him  everything,  and, 
in  the  end,  he  thanked  God  that  we  had  been  able 
to  do  something  for  the  Bulgarians,  of  a  sort  which 
the  founders  of  the  College  had  never  dreamed  of. 
In  the  spring  of  1876  we  had  a  visit  from  Rev.  Dr. 
David  B.  Coe,  one  of  the  trustees,  who  had  been 
the  secretary  of  the  Board  from  the  beginning,  and 
who  was  the  chief  support  of  the  College  after  Mr. 
Robert's  death  —  a  man  of  admirable  spirit  and 
great  practical  wisdom.  One  of  the  amusing  inci- 
dents of  the  year  w^as  the  arrival  of  a  consignment 
of  codfish  from  New  York.  Mr.  Robert  had  in- 
terested himself  while  here  in  the  students'  table  and 
it  appears  had  concluded  that  Yankee  codfish  balls 
ought  to  be  an  acceptable  addition  to  their  diet. 
Mrs.  Washburn  superintended  the  Armenian  cook 
so  that  we  produced  the  genuine  article,  and  I  made 
a  speech  at  the  table  in  honor  of  Mr.  Robert  and  the 
dish;  but,  alas  !  we  discovered  that  early  education 
was  necessary  to  an  appreciation  of  this  national 
dainty  —  and  most  of  the  codfish  was  disposed  of 
to  American  families. 

One  of  the  most  welcome  results  of  the  political 
troubles  here  was  the  arrival  of  American  war  ves- 
sels, sent  here  by  our  government  for  the  protection 
of  its  Legation.  At  different  times  the  Vandalia, 
the  Quinnebaug,  the  Gettysburg,  the  Wyoming, 
the  Despatch,  the  Marion,  were  here,  sometimes  two 

112 


POLITICAL  CRISIS  IN  TURKEY 

or  three  at  once.  Their  presence  here  was  an  assur- 
ance of  protection,  and  it  was  a  joy  to  see  the  Ameri- 
can flag  on  the  Bosphorus.  We  were  not  so  proud 
of  the  ships  as  we  were  of  the  officers.  We  saw  much 
of  them.  Like  our  great  generals  who  have  visited 
Constantinople,  and  unlike  some  of  our  civil  repre- 
sentatives, they  were  interested  in  us  because  we 
were  Americans,  and  I  have  been  a  firm  believer  in 
the  navy  ever  since.  To  many  of  them  we  were 
under  special  obligations. 

As  the  year  went  on  and  the  political  troubles  in- 
creased the  number  of  our  students  diminished.  At 
the  end  of  the  year  the  number  of  boarders  had 
fallen  from  137  to  111.  One  hundred  and  forty  in 
all  were  present  at  the  close.  Some  of  the  Bulga- 
rians were  unable  to  return  home  on  account  of  the 
state  of  the  country,  and  we  had  to  keep  and  protect 
ten  or  twelve  of  them  at  the  College  during  the  long 
summer  vacation.  As  we  could  not  suddenly  reduce 
our  expenses  to  any  great  extent,  the  loss  on  the 
current  expense  account  was  heavier  than  for  any 
previous  year,  amounting  here  and  in  America  to 
sixty-five  hundred  dollars.  As  Mr.  Robert's  private 
income  had  been  seriously  reduced  during  the  year, 
this  must  have  been  a  severe  trial  to  him,  but  he  did 
not  complain.  He  exhorted  us  to  have  faith  in  the 
future.  We  arranged  to  reduce  our  expenses  for  the 
following  year  by  taking  Dr.  Long  and  his  family  to 
live  with  us  in  the  College,  w^hile  Professor  Grosve- 
nor  moved  into  the  house  in  Hissar  belonging  to 
us.  The  change  was  made  in  July,  so  that  Dr.  Long 
looked  after  the  College  and  the  students  remaining 
there  during  the  vacation,  while  I  was  in  Switzer- 

113 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

land.  Mr.  Robert  had  insisted  on  my  taking  this 
trip  and  had  sent  me  the  money  for  my  expenses. 
The  Senior  class  held  together  to  the  end  of  the 
year,  and  there  were  15  graduates,  the  largest  num- 
ber since  the  opening  of  the  College.  One  of  them 
took  the  degree  of  B.S. ;  7  were  Bulgarians,  7  Ar- 
menians, and  1  Greek.  Twelve  of  them  are  still 
living  (1907).  All  of  the  Bulgarians  became  dis- 
tinguished men,  four  of  them  as  soldiers.  Two  of 
them  commanded  regiments  in  the  famous  battle 
of  Slivnitza,  one  of  whom  was  killed.  His  name  was 
Marinoff,  one  of  the  most  attractive  men  who  ever 
graduated  at  the  College.  The  other  died  in  1902 
as  Minister  of  Public  Works  in  Bulgaria.  The 
other  two  are  among  the  best  officers  in  the  Bulga- 
rian army  to-day,  one  of  them  a  general.  Of  the 
others  one  is  a  physician,  one  is  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals  at  Sophia  and  one  was  secretary  of  the 
same  court.  The  Greek  is  a  successful  physician 
in  Constantinople.  Of  the  Armenians  three  are 
merchants,  one  in  Chicago,  one  in  England  and  one 
in  Constantinople.  One  is  the  head  of  the  Society 
for  Ethical  Culture  in  Chicago,  one  is  a  clergyman, 
and  two  are  physicians.  One  of  them  is  one  of  the 
leaders  of  his  profession  in  Constantinople. 


114 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   RUSSO-TURKISH   WAR.     1876-1877 

When  I  returned  from  Switzerland  in  September, 
1876,  I  found  a  new  Sultan  on  the  throne.  Murad 
had  been  deposed  and  his  brother  Abd-ul-Hamid 
installed  in  his  place  chiefly  through  the  influence  of 
Midhat  Pasha  and  Sir  Plenry  Elliott.  Very  little 
was  known  about  him  even  by  the  Turks,  but  he 
was  supposed  to  be  a  quiet,  unobtrusive  man  with 
little  knowledge  of  political  affairs,  who  would  be  a 
tool  in  the  hands  of  the  conspirators  who  had  de- 
posed his  uncle  and  his  brother.  It  was  not  long 
before  they  and  the  world  were  undeceived. 

The  College  opened  with  83  boarders,  27  of 
whom  were  Bulgarians,  and  27  day  scholars,  110  in 
all.  Ten  more  Bulgarians  came  later,  but  other 
students  left  so  that  the  number  at  the  end  of  the 
year  was  still  110,  in  place  of  140  at  the  close  of  the 
preceding  year.  It  was  much  better  than  we  had 
feared.  We  were  not  able  to  make  any  essential  re- 
ductions in  our  staff  of  teachers.  Professor  Pana- 
retoff  returned  with  us,  and,  although  his  presence 
in  London  had  attracted  some  attention  and  had 
alarmed  Mr.  Robert,  nothing  was  ever  said  to  us 
about  it  here.  The  Turks  were  too  much  taken  up 
with  their  own  affairs  to  trouble  themselves  about 
him.  One  of  the  most  serious  of  their  troubles  was 
financial.   They  had  destroyed  their  credit  by  going 

115 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

into  practical  bankruptcy  and  could  borrow  no 
money  and  were  forced  to  resort  to  the  issue  of  an 
irredeemable  paper  currency  (caime).  It  was  the 
financial  condition  of  the  country,  even  more  than 
the  unsettled  political  condition,  which  reduced  the 
number  of  our  students,  for  people  generally  re- 
garded Robert  College  as  about  the  safest  place  in 
Constantinople.  The  Turks  set  traps  for  us  now 
and  then,  during  this  and  the  following  years,  to 
test  our  loyalty ;  but,  as  we  never  walked  into  them, 
they  found  nothing  to  complain  of. 

In  the  war  with  Servia  the  Turks  were  successful 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  a  large  number  of  Russian 
oflScers  and  soldiers  had  been  allowed  by  their  gov- 
ernment to  go  to  aid  the  Servians.  The  Turkish 
armies  were  arrested  only  by  the  direct  intervention 
of  Russia  and  the  threat  of  war.  The  Great  Powers 
finally  agreed  to  call  a  European  conference  to  meet 
at  Constantinople  to  consider  the  situation  and  in- 
duce the  Turkish  government  to  agree  to  such  re- 
forms as  would  satisfy  the  people  of  European 
Turkey  and  prevent  a  war,  which  might  involve 
all  Europe. 

This  conference  was  for  many  reasons  a  matter 
of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  College.  If  successful 
it  would  insure  a  long  period  of  peace  to  Turkey 
and  quiet  and  prosperity  to  the  European  prov- 
inces. It  would  check  any  advance  of  Russia,  and 
give  the  Bulgarians  a  chance  to  educate  the  nation. 
We  were  brought  into  somewhat  intimate  relations 
with  it  by  the  fact  that  England  had  been  a  leader  in 
the  plan  of  the  Conference  and  that  her  representa- 
tives believed  that  we  knew  more  of  the  people  and 

116 


SULTAX    ABDUL  HAMII) 


THE  RUSSO -TURKISH  WAR 

the  situation  in  Bulgaria  than  any  one  else  in  Con- 
stantinople.   Lord  Salisbury  and  Sir  Henry  Elliott 
were  the  English  delegates,  and  two  of  the  men  who 
came  with  Lord  Salisbury  were  in  later  years  am- 
bassadors here,  Lord  Curry  and  Sir  William  White. 
Admiral  Sir  John  Hay  was  also  here.    The  delegates 
gathered  here  early  in  December,  1876,  and  had  a 
number  of  informal  sessions,  to  see  if  they  could 
come  to  an  agreement  among  themselves  before 
meeting  with  the  Turkish  delegates.    The  antici- 
pated   antagonism    between    Lord    Salisbury    and 
General  Ignatieff,  the  Russian  delegate,  did  not  ap- 
pear.  They  worked  together  all  through  the  Con- 
ference, and  reached  a  plan  which,  if  it  had  been 
accepted  by  the  Turks,  would  have  brought  peace 
and  prosperity  to  the  empire.    Unhappily  Sir  Henry 
Elliott  did  not  agree  with  Lord  Salisbury,  as  he  told 
me   himself,   and,   perhaps   unconsciously,   he  en- 
couraged the  Turks  to  resist.   The  full  Conference 
met  December  23.    Midhat  Pasha  had  prepared  a 
couj)  de  theatre  for  the  occasion.    The  Conference 
was  formally  opened  and  discussions  about  to  begin 
when  it  was  interrupted  by  the  roar  of  cannon;  and 
the  Turkish  president  of   the  Conference,  Safvet 
Pasha,    rose   and   declared   that   "these   guns   an- 
nounced   the   promulgation   of    a   constitution,    a 
change  in  a  form  of  government  which  had  lasted 
six  hundred  years  and  inaugurated  a  new  era  of 
prosperity  for  the  Ottoman  people."    There  was  no 
longer  any  need  of  a  conference.    All  the  people  of 
Turkey  were  to  enjoy  far  more  than  the  Conference 
was  prepared  to  ask  for  the  European  provinces. 
The  Conference  did  not  accept  this  view  because  it 

117 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

offered  no  guarantee  for  the  carrying  out  of  reforms. 
The  session  continued,  and  the  delegates  gave  up 
one  demand  after  another  until  the  scheme  was  of 
little  account,  but  the  Turks  refused  to  accept  any- 
thing ;  the  Conference  adjourned,  and  all  the  Great 
Powers  recalled  their  ambassadors  and  broke  off 
relations  with  the  Sultan.  The  Turks,  before  the 
final  refusal  to  accept,  went  through  the  farce  of 
calling  an  assembly  of  the  Turkish  notables  and 
the  heads  of  the  Christian  communities  to  express 
an  opinion.  The  Bulgarian  Exarch  refused  to  at- 
tend on  the  ground  that  he  was  ill.  The  Vekil  of 
the  Protestant  community  was  the  only  one  present 
who  dared  to  speak  of  the  danger  of  refusal  and  to 
advise  caution.  The  man  in  the  street,  whether 
Turk  or  Christian  or  Jew,  was  equally  careful  to 
express  nothing  but  joy  at  the  new  Constitution. 

The  Constitution  was  full  of  sonorous  words  and 
phrases,  borrowed  from  similar  documents,  but  was 
altogether  worthless  as  a  charter  of  liberty  and  not 
adapted  to  the  conditions  of  the  country.  Only  six 
weeks  after  its  promulgation  Midhat  Pasha  was 
summoned  to  the  Palace  in  the  middle  of  the  night, 
seized  there,  put  on  board  of  a  steamer  and  shipped 
out  of  the  country  in  disgrace,  to  Brindisi  in  Italy, 
nominally  under  a  provision  of  his  own  constitution. 
However,  the  promised  Parliament  —  a  Senate  ap- 
pointed by  the  Sultan  and  a  House  of  Deputies 
chosen  in  various  fashions  in  different  provinces  by 
the  people  —  did  meet  six  weeks  after  the  exile  of 
Midhat  and  was  opened  by  the  Sultan  in  person, 
March  19, 1877.  Our  friend  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha  was 
chosen  president  of  the  lower  house,  and  there  were 

118 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR 

a  number  of  members  whose  independence  and 
good  sense  astonished  every  one,  but  it  was  a  unique 
assembly.  I  attended  one  of  the  sessions.  Among 
other  incidents  a  green-turbaned  descendant  of  the 
Prophet  interrupted  a  speaker  and  was  called  to 
order  twice,  with  no  result.  When  Achmet  Vefik 
Pasha  roared  at  him,  ''Sous  eshek''  (Shut  up,  you 
donkey),  he  dropped  into  his  seat  as  though  he  had 
been  shot.  The  Parliament  was  altogether  too  in- 
dependent and  was  dissolved  June  28,  1877. 
Another  was  chosen  six  months  later  which  made 
itself  still  more  disagreeable,  and  that  was  the  end. 
The  failure  of  the  Conference  was  a  disappointment 
to  us  at  the  College,  and,  as  we  believed,  a  misfor- 
tune for  Turkey.  We  also  believed  that  it  would  be 
better  for  the  Bulgarians  to  be  gradually  emanci- 
pated. I  am  of  the  same  opinion  to-day.  What- 
ever influence  we  had  at  the  Conference  was  ex- 
erted with  this  in  view.  All  that  we  did  was  in  the 
interest  of  peace.  The  failure  of  the  Conference 
meant  war.  A  distinguished  member  of  the  Ulema 
explained  to  me  at  the  time  that  the  difficulty  was 
that  the  government  had  stirred  up  the  fanaticism 
of  the  people  and  had  found  it  impossible  to  explain 
to  the  rank  and  file  the  necessity  of  yielding  to  the 
demands  of  infidel  Europe. 

Painful  negotiations  between  the  Powers  fol- 
lowed the  failure  of  the  Conference,  and  war  was  not 
declared  by  Russia  until  April  29,  1877.  The  Eng- 
lish government  was  unwilling  to  permit  Russia  to 
act  in  the  spirit  of  the  Conference  and  coerce  the 
Turks;  but  the  Bulgarian  massacres  had  roused 
public  opinion  in  England  to  such  a  pitch  of  hostil- 

119 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

ity  to  Turkey  that  the  government  did  not  dare  to 
protect  her  openly.  Austria  also  had  to  be  bought 
over  to  the  side  of  Russia  by  the  promise  of  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina.  England  and  Austria  both  stipu- 
lated that  Russia  should  not  occupy  Constantinople. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  history 
to  narrate  the  events  of  the  Russo-Turkish  War. 
At  the  outset  the  Turks  had  the  advantage,  and,  if 
the  Sultan  had  not  attempted  to  direct  the  armies 
from  his  palace  and  had  given  the  supreme  com- 
mand to  any  one  of  two  or  three  of  his  generals,  the 
Russians  would  have  been  miserably  defeated,  the 
first  year  at  least;  but  Suleiman  Pasha  with  the 
best  of  the  Turkish  troops  was  kept  in  Montenegro 
to  be  beaten  by  those  mountaineers,  while  the 
troops  who  should  have  united  against  the  Russians 
in  Bulgaria  were  commanded  by  generals  who  did 
not  work  in  harmony.  The  Russians  were  alto- 
gether unprepared  for  war,  and  the  government  had 
been  forced  into  it  by  public  opinion.  The  excite- 
ment in  Constantinople  during  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer was  intense,  and  the  whole  Mohammedan  popu- 
lation of  the  empire  was  roused  to  defend  the  faith 
against  their  old  enemy.  The  Christians  did  not 
know  which  to  fear  most,  a  great  defeat  or  a  great 
victory  for  the  Turks.  Our  students  shared  in  this 
excitement,  especially  as  nearly  half  of  our  board- 
ers were  Bulgarians;  but  the  College  was  never  mo- 
lested in  any  way,  and  we  did  our  best  to  keep  the 
students  occupied  with  their  studies. 

At  one  time  there  were  reports  of  a  great  Russian 
victory,  and  there  was  great  alarm  among  the  more 
ignorant  Turks  in  the  city.    One  day  the  wife  of  the 

120 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR 

imam  of  the  quarter  next  the  College  came  to  me 
in  great  excitement  and  told  me  that  the  Russians 
were  coming  and  would  certainly  murder  them  all. 
She  came  in  the  name  of  the  women  of  liissar  to 
know  if  we  would  take  them  all  into  the  College  and 
protect  them  against  the  Russians.  I  told  her  that 
we  would,  and  that  she  would  find  the  American  flag 
a  sure  protection.  She  went  away  comforted.  It  was 
very  fortunate  for  us  during  the  excitement  of  the 
war  that  our  neighbors  were  friendly.  At  one  time 
they  took  pains  to  warn  us  that  it  would  be  danger- 
ous for  a  few  days  for  our  Bulgarian  students  to 
leave  the  college  grounds. 

We  were  greatly  indebted  to  the  ofiicers  of  the 
Vandalia  for  the  interest  which  they  took  in  the  Col- 
lege at  this  time.  Their  frequent  visits  were  a  boon 
to  us  in  many  ways.  One  evening  Lieutenant 
Danenhower  brought  up  some  twenty  sailors,  who 
gave  the  students  a  negro  minstrel  concert,  closing 
with  a  tableau  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  supported 
by  the  army  and  navy.  It  was  a  great  success,  and 
the  sailors  spent  the  night  at  the  College.  Another 
day  they  came  up  for  a  baseball  match.  These 
things  were  a  great  relief  to  the  strain  under  which 
the  students  lived.  The  College  was  also  a  centre  to 
which  all  visitors,  English  and  American,  to  Con- 
stantinople came  for  information.  Mr.  Maynard, 
Mr.  Schuyler  and  Mr.  Tuckerman,  minister  to 
Greece,  were  also  constant  visitors,  and  they  gave 
lectures  to  the  students  on  various  subjects. 

The  fall  of  Midhat  Pasha  made  it  impossible  for 
Sir  Henry  Elliott  to  return  to  the  British  Embassy 
here,  and  Sir  A.  Henry  Layard  was  sent  to  take  his 

121 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

place.  He  had  been  here  in  the  time  of  Lord  Strat- 
ford, before  he  became  famous  for  his  work  in 
Babylonia,  and  he  was  welcomed  by  the  Turks  as 
an  old  friend  and  a  well-known  Turcophile.  He 
was  also  a  devoted  friend  of  ours,  which  at  that 
time  was  most  fortunate  for  us.  Dr.  Long  and  I 
continued  to  conduct  the  Sunday  services  at  the 
British  Embassy  in  Therapia  as  we  had  done  for  sev- 
eral years  in  the  summer  months  under  Sir  Henry 
Elliott.  A  good  many  Turks  at  that  time  gave  us 
the  credit  of  having  brought  on  the  war,  and  Sir 
Henry  Layard  improved  a  favorable  opportunity 
to  ask  the  Sultan  and  the  Grand  Vizier  whether  they 
had  any  complaints  to  make  of  Robert  College. 
Both  of  them  assured  him  that  they  were  perfectly 
satisfied  that  neither  the  College  nor  any  of  its  stu- 
dents had  ever  done  anything  to  encourage  rebellion 
in  Bulgaria.  This  was  the  simple  truth.  It  was  a 
relief  to  know  that  it  was  acknowledged  to  be  true 
by  the  Sultan.  Sir  Henry  Layard  represented  here 
the  pro-Turkish  and  anti-Russian  policy  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield,  and  his  relations  with  the  Sultan  were 
more  intimate  than  those  of  any  other  ambassador 
before  or  since.  He  was  consequently  in  a  position 
to  mitigate,  in  some  measure,  the  severity  of  the 
treatment  of  the  Bulgarians  by  the  Turkish  author- 
ities. We  were  able  through  his  influence  to  save 
some  lives  in  Bulgaria  of  old  students  and  others. 
In  one  important  case,  however,  we  had  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  difficulty  of  accomplishing  anything 
under  the  Turkish  administration.  There  were 
some  fifty  Bulgarians,  some  of  them  educated  gen- 
tlemen and  friends  of  ours,  who  were  in  imprison- 

122 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR 

ment  or  exile,  mostly  in  Mesopotamia  and  Syria. 
Some  had  been  there  for  years.  They  had  never 
been  tried,  but  had  been  arrested  and  sent  off  on 
suspicion,  simply  because  they  were  more  intelli- 
gent than  others.  They  had  never  been  told  what 
their  offense  was  supposed  to  be.  Before  the  Rus- 
sians crossed  the  Danube  it  was  a  time  when  it  was 
the  policy  of  the  Turks  to  conciliate  the  Bulgarians, 
and  we  represented  the  case  of  these  Bulgarians  to 
Mr.  Layard,  giving  a  detailed  statement  of  each 
case.  He  saw  the  point  and  took  our  paper  to  the 
Sultan,  who  also  saw  the  point  and  in  Mr.  Layard's 
presence  ordered  the  immediate  release  of  these 
men.  Nothing  was  done,  and  Mr.  Layard  again 
spoke  to  the  Sultan.  He  immediately  summoned 
the  officer  to  whom  he  had  given  orders  and  asked 
why  his  orders  had  not  been  carried  out.  It  was 
said  that  they  had  not  yet  verified  the  statements 
in  our  paper.  Again  he  gave  orders  and  again 
nothing  was  done.  A  third  time  Mr.  Layard  called 
the  Sultan's  attention  to  the  matter.  He  got  this 
answer,  "  Have  I  not  given  you  my  word  ?  "  No- 
thing was  ever  done  until  the  Russians  at  San 
Stefano  secured  their  release. 

We  had  troubles  of  our  own  in  the  College  during 
the  year,  two  cases  of  scarlet  fever  and  a  case  of 
chicken  pox,  and  at  that  time  we  had  no  doctor 
within  five  miles  and  no  trained  nurse  or  proper 
hospital.  It  was  due  to  the  devotion  of  the  teach- 
ers and  one  of  the  students  that  we  escaped  an  epi- 
demic. In  June  Dr.  Long  had  to  go  to  America  to 
bring  home  his  eldest  daughter,  who  was  seriously 
ill.    Professor  Grosvenor  was  ill  for  some  time,  and 

123 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

I  was  not  in  good  health  at  any  time  during  the 
year.  Then  we  were  perplexed  as  to  what  policy  we 
ought  to  pursue  in  regard  to  the  College.  The 
Lycee  of  Galata  Serai  and  the  national  schools  in 
Constantinople  were  closed  soon  after  the  out- 
break of  war.  For  a  time  Mr.  Robert  was  in  favor 
of  closing,  and  the  question  came  up  as  to  what 
would  be  done  with  the  building  in  that  case. 
Could  it  be  used  as  a  hospital  ?  Would  the  United 
States  minister  be  willing  to  occupy  it  officially,  or 
the  consul  general.^  It  was  our  opinion  that  we 
should  not  close  the  College,  whatever  might  hap- 
pen, unless  forced  to  do  so  by  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment, a  contingency  which  we  had  no  reason  to 
anticipate.  Mr.  Robert  finally  accepted  this  view, 
although  it  seemed  very  doubtful  whether  we 
should  have  many  students.  Another  important 
question  was  brought  up  during  the  year  by  Pro- 
fessor Grosvenor.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  Greek 
scholar  and  more  interested  in  the  Greeks  than  the 
Bulgarians.  He  wrote  very  strongly  to  Mr.  Robert 
as  to  the  weakness  of  our  Greek  Department  and 
attributed  to  this  the  small  number  of  our  Greek  stu- 
dents. We  had  only  seven  Greek  boarders  and  four 
day  scholars.  His  criticism  of  the  department  was 
just.  We  had  one  Greek  professor,  learned,  but  a  poor 
teacher,  who  was  of  very  little  use  to  the  students. 
We  dismissed  him  at  the  end  of  the  year  and  found 
it  very  difficult  to  get  another.  In  fact  the  Greeks 
who  were  here  did  not  come  here  for  Greek,  but  for 
English  and  for  a  general  education,  and  objected 
to  studying  Greek.  The  real  reason  why  we  had  so 
few  was  that  Robert  College  was  looked  upon  by  the 

124 


THE  RUSSO-TURKISH  WAR 

Greeks  as  a  Bulgarian  college  and  they  detested  the 
Bulgarians.  I  was  often  told  this  in  so  many  words. 
Still  Professor  Grosvenor  was  right  in  principle,  and 
we  never  reached  the  Greeks  to  any  extent  until  we 
found  our  present  Greek  professor,  Professor  Eliou, 
and  through  him  were  able  to  make  this  depart- 
ment equal  to  a  Greek  gymnasium.  We  now  have 
six  Greek  teachers.  The  trouble  in  1877  was  that 
we  had  no  money  to  expend  in  experiments. 

Our  Commencement  exercises  at  the  close  of  the 
year  were  an  agreeable  disappointment  to  us.  It 
seemed  doubtful  whether,  in  the  existing  state  of 
feeling  in  the  city,  it  would  be  wise  to  have  public 
exercises  and  whether  any  one  would  come  if  we  did. 
The  prize  speaking  on  Wednesday  and  the  public 
debate  in  the  evening  brought  together  large  audi- 
ences, although  the  day  was  very  hot  and  sultry. 
The  debate  on  the  question,  "Has  war  produced 
more  good  than  evil  in  the  world  ?'*  interested  the 
students  very  much  and  justified  their  choice  of  this 
subject.  Thursday  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  the 
study  hall  w^as  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity  with 
a  distinguished  audience.  The  orations  were  good 
and  the  speeches  made  by  our  guests  excellent,  as 
w^ell  as  judicious,  which  was  very  important  at  that 
time.  The  Turkish  representative  of  the  govern- 
ment, a  member  of  the  Council  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, declared  that  they  held  the  College  in  the  high- 
est esteem  and  wished  it  all  possible  success.  After 
the  exercises  we  gave  a  luncheon  to  two  hundred 
of  the  guests. 

The  graduating  class  numbered  14,  of  whom  10 
are  now  living   (1907).   Five  were  Bulgarians,   6 

125 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Armenians,  2  Greeks,  and  1  was  an  Englishman. 
Two  of  the  Bulgarians  have  occupied  high  official 
positions,  2  have  been  teachers  and  literary  men, 
1  a  successful  merchant;  3  of  the  Armenians,  the 
Englishman  and  the  Greeks  have  been  merchants;  1 
of  the  Armenians  is  now  a  professor  in  Robert  Col- 
lege, 1  died  soon  after  graduation. 

Many  of  our  Bulgarians  could  not  go  home  or 
even  leave  the  college  grounds.  The  feeling  against 
them  was  more  bitter  than  ever.  General  Gourco's 
foolish,  unsupported  raid  across  the  Balkans  and 
occupation  of  Eski  Zagra,  with  the  atrocities  com- 
mitted on  the  Turks  there,  had  been  terribly  re- 
venged by  Suleiman  Pasha,  who  had  been  recalled 
from  Montenegro,  with  thousands  of  Bulgarians 
slaughtered  and  the  town  destroyed.  Both  events 
had  increased  the  desire  for  vengeance  among  the 
Turks  here.  So  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  spent  the 
summer  in  the  College  to  protect  the  students  who 
remained  there.  It  was  well  for  us  that  we  had 
American  men  of  war  in  the  harbor,  and  that  the 
officers  and  Mr.  Maynard  were  frequent  visitors  at 
the  College.  As  it  was  we  had  no  serious  difficulties  of 
any  kind.  Dr.  Long's  wife  and  daughters  lived  with 
us.  The  deficit  for  the  year  on  the  current  expense 
account  here  and  in  America  was  eighty-six  hun- 
dred and  twenty  dollars,  two  thousand  dollars 
more  than  the  preceding  year. 


126 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   RUSSIANS   AT   SAN    STEFANO.     1877-1878 

The  College  opened  September  18,  1877,  with  69 
boarders  and  26  day  scholars.  Thirty-nine  of  the 
boarders  were  Bulgarians.  At  the  close  of  this  year 
there  were  80  boarders,  of  whom  44  were  Bulga- 
rians and  28  day  scholars.  Dr.  Long  returned 
from  America  September  21  and  was  in  charge  of 
the  College  as  acting  director  during  the  year. 
Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  left  for  America  September 
26,  my  health  having  given  out.  I  was  suffering 
from  nervous  prostration.  Professor  Panaretoff  had 
gone  to  Europe  for  the  summer  vacation  and  could 
not  return  on  account  of  the  violent  persecution 
of  all  Bulgarians  who  came  within  the  reach  of  the 
Turkish  authorities  here.  The  arrival  of  the  Rus- 
sians at  San  Stefano  in  March  put  an  end  to 
this,  and  Professor  Panaretoff  returned  for  the  rest 
of  the  year.  Mr.  Slaveikoff  had  done  his  work  up 
to  this  time,  when  he  left  the  College  and  accepted 
a  place  on  the  staff  of  one  of  the  Russian  generals. 
Similar  positions  were  already  filled  by  several 
of  our  former  students.  Mr.  Ludskanoff  of  the 
class  of  1875  had  greatly  distinguished  himself  on 
the  staff  of  General  Skobeleff,  who  spoke  of  him  to 
me  in  the  highest  terms.  The  necessity  of  such  ap- 
pointments grew  out  of  the  ignorance  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  country  by  the  Russians,  and  the  pres- 

127 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

ence  of  a  large  number  of  Bulgarian  volunteers  in 
the  Russian  army.  Two  new  tutors  arrived  in 
September,  Messrs.  Truax  and  Nash,  both  of  whom 
in  later  years  distinguished  themselves  in  America, 
the  first  as  a  lawyer  in  New  York  and  the  second  as 
a  theological  professor  in  California. 

It  was  near  the  beginning  of  this  year  that 
the  prospects  of  the  war  began  to  change  in 
favor  of  the  Russians  both  in  Europe  and  Asia. 
The  condition  of  the  Russian  armies  had  steadily 
improved,  and  the  Roumanians  had  joined  them  in 
Bulgaria,  while  the  Turkish  armies  were  steadily 
deteriorating,  through  the  weakness  of  the  govern- 
ment at  Constantinople.  We  cannot  follow  the 
course  of  the  war  in  the  field.  We  have  only  to  do 
with  events  at  Constantinople.  After  the  fall  of 
Plevna,  the  terrible  winter  passage  of  the  Balkans 
and  the  rout  of  the  Turkish  army  in  the  bloody 
battle  of  Shenova,  the  Russians  pressed  on  to  Con- 
stantinople, sweeping  everything  before  them.  The 
Turkish  population  of  the  country  fled  in  terror, 
believing  that  the  Russians  and  Bulgarians  would 
avenge  the  massacre  of  the  Bulgarians  by  a  general 
slaughter  of  the  Turks.  It  would  require  the  pen  of  a 
De  Quincey  to  picture  the  horrors  of  that  winter 
exodus.  I  have  heard  the  number  of  those  who  died 
on  the  road  and  in  the  streets  of  Constantinople  esti- 
mated at  a  hundred  thousand,  but  no  one  will  ever 
know  whether  it  was  more  or  less.  General  Skobeleff , 
who  commanded  the  advance  guard  of  the  Russians, 
related  tome  one  incident  of  his  own  experience  which 
may  illustrate  faintly  the  nature  of  this  flight.  It 
was  between  Philippopolis  and  Adrianople  that  he 

128 


THE  RUSSIANS  AT  SAN  STEFANO 

unexpectedly  heard  the  sound  of  guns  and  hastened 
to  the  front.  It  was  at  a  place  where  two  rivers  came 
together,  and  crowded  in  between  them  were  an  im- 
mense number  of  carts  and  some  thousands  of 
Turks,  men,  women  and  children.  He  ordered  his 
troops  to  retire  and  rode  forward  himself  to  assure 
the  refugees  that  they  had  nothing  to  fear;  but  he 
could  not  approach  them  as  they  persistently  fired 
upon  him,  so  he  waited  until  they  could  get  away. 
When  he  finally  started  at  the  head  of  a  regiment  of 
Cossacks  he  soon  saw  a  baby  by  the  roadside.  He 
ordered  a  soldier  to  pick  it  up,  and  before  he  reached 
the  next  town  nearly  every  soldier  in  the  regiment 
had  a  child  in  his  arms,  which  had  been  thrown 
away  by  its  parents  in  their  mad  flight.  At  this 
tow^n  he  seized  a  sufficient  number  of  carts  to  carry 
these  children  to  a  Turkish  village  in  the  mountains 
where  there  was  hope  that  the  people  might  feed 
them.  What  their  fate  was  he  could  not  tell.  It  was 
reported  from  other  sources  that  some  two  thousand 
children  were  thrown  by  their  parents  into  the  rivers, 
and  that  their  bodies  actually  dammed  the  streams. 
It  was  said  that  the  w^hole  line  of  the  railway  from 
Adrianople  was  marked  by  the  corpses  of  those 
who  had  fallen  from  the  trains,  too  nearly  frozen  to 
keep  their  hold  on  the  tops  and  sides  of  the  cars. 
Great  numbers  starved  to  death  with  cold  and  hun- 
ger on  the  roads  through  the  desolate  country  this 
side  of  Adrianople.  Including  the  disbanded  troops 
it  w^as  estimated  that  some  three  hundred  thousand 
reached  Constantinople  in  such  a  piteous  state  that, 
instead  of  plundering  the  unprotected  city,  they 
lay  down  and  died  in  the  streets  and  mosques. 

129 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Typhus  fever  and  smallpox  raged  among  them  and 
infected  the  city.     There  was  a  scarcity  of  food  and 
of  places  to  shelter  them.    It  was  altogether  the  most 
terrible  experience   that  Constantinople  had  wit- 
nessed since  the  Turkish  conquest.     It  was  in  the 
midst  of   these  scenes  that   the  new  Parliament, 
chosen  in  some  fashion,  was  holding  its  sessions, 
and  it  astonished  every  one  by  suddenly  rousing  it- 
self and  passing  a  vote  of  censure  on  the  ministers. 
The  ministers  resigned,  and  the  Sultan,  without  any 
apparent   reason,   abolished    the   office   of    Grand 
Vizier,  appointed  our  friend  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha 
Prime  Minister,  and  ordered  him  to  form  a  homo- 
geneous ministry.     Three  months  later,  after  he  had 
been  ignominiously  dismissed,  he  told   me  many 
things  in  regard  to  his  experiences.     He  found  it 
almost   impossible   to  transact   business  with  the 
Sultan,  and  at  times  for  two  or  three  days  together 
he  seemed  to  be  out  of  his  mind.    He  trusted  no  one 
and  really  allowed  the  ministers  no  initiative  in  any 
business.     But  one  thing  Achmet  Vefik  Pasha  ac- 
complished with  the  aid  of  Sir  Henry  Layard  which 
was  of  vital  importance.     When  the  Russians  ap- 
proached Constantinople  the  Sultan  determined  to 
retire  to  Brousa,  the  old  Turkish  capital,  and  gave 
orders  accordingly.    If  he  had  done  so  the  probabil- 
ity is  that  he  v/ould  never  have  returned.     They 
finally  persuaded  him  to  abandon  the  project.    The 
story  is  that  Sir  Henry  literally  went  down  on  his 
knees  to  the  Sultan,  but  I  do  not  know  whether  this 
is   true.     Certainly  he   did   metaphorically.     The 
ParHament  was  dispersed,  many  of  the  members 
escaped  from  the  country,  others  were  imprisoned, 

130 


THE  RUSSIANS  AT  SAN  STEFANO 

and  that  was  the  end  of  the  Constitution.  It  was 
never  formally  revoked,  but  died  a  natural  death. 
It  was  originally  decreed  by  absolute  power,  simply 
to  checkmate  the  European  Powers,  not  because  it 
was  demanded  by  the  people  or  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  country,  and  it  had  never  in  any  way 
limited  the  autocracy  of  the  Sultan.  He  had  made 
the  war  of  his  own  will  and  he  made  peace  in  his 
own  way. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  Russian  army  came  the 
English  fleet,  which  had  nominally  forced  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Dardanelles  in  defiance  of  treaties,  and 
hoped  to  prevent  the  occupation  of  Constanti- 
nople by  the  Russians.  It  was  not  war  but  a  threat 
of  war.  So  far  as  the  Turks  were  concerned  there 
was  nothing  to  prevent  the  Russians  entering  the 
city  without  firing  a  shot.  General  Grant,  who 
was  here  a  little  later,  was  in  St.  Petersburg  at  this 
time,  and  he  told  this  story  on  the  authority  of  a 
high  oflScial  there.  "Wlien  the  Grand  Duke  ar- 
rived at  San  Stefano  he  sent  many  telegrams  to 
the  Czar,  among  others  this,  *We  are  in  sight  of 
St.  Sophia.  There  are  no  troops  between  us  and 
the  city.  Shall  I  enter  and  take  possession.^*  All 
the  other  telegrams  were  answered  at  once.  This 
one  was  not,  in  the  full  belief  that  the  Grand  Duke 
would  understand  that  he  was  to  take  the  respon- 
sibility himself  and  occupy  the  city.  To  the  great 
disappointment  of  the  Czar  he  did  not."  General 
Grant  added  that  this  seemed  to  him  the  greatest 
mistake  the  Russians  had  made. 

March  3,  1878,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  be- 
tween Russia  and  Turkey  at  San   Stefano  which 

131 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

would  have  been  final  but  for  the  attitude  of  Eng- 
land and  Austria.  For  some  time  it  looked  as 
though  war  would  result  from  this  intervention, 
and  during  these  months  we  received  many  visits 
from  English  and  Russian  officers,  which  puzzled 
us  at  first,  but  we  soon  discovered  that  it  was  a 
question  of  whether  Russian  batteries  on  the 
grounds  of  Robert  College  could  prevent  the  British 
fleet  from  ascending  the  Bosphorus  and  entering 
the  Black  Sea  to  cut  off  the  communication  of  the 
Russian  armies.  Dr.  Long  had  information  that  a 
large  force  with  heavy  guns  was  not  far  away,  and 
for  a  time  was  quite  anxious  about  it.  Happily  we 
escaped  this  danger.  The  only  occasion  that  we 
ever  had  to  complain  of  the  Russians  grew  out  of 
what  they  had  learned  of  Robert  College  in  Bulga- 
ria. All  the  forces  that  returned  to  Russia  were 
brought  to  Constantinople  and  sent  home  by  sea, 
so  that  every  transport  passed  the  College,  and  when 
opposite  us,  if  there  was  a  band  on  board,  it  struck 
up  some  American  tune  and  the  men  gave  three 
cheers.  We  had  to  explain  to  General  Skobeleff 
that  while  we  were  grateful  for  the  interest  they  had 
in  us,  this  manifestation  of  it  was  not  likely  to  im- 
prove our  relations  with  the  Turks,  and  we  begged 
that  it  might  be  dispensed  with.  The  streets  of 
Constantinople  were  full  of  Russian  officers  and 
soldiers  as  long  as  they  were  at  San  Stef  ano,  and 
we  never  heard  of  any  conflicts  between  them  and 
the  Turks. 

The  treaty  of  San  Stefano  was  of  course  a  hard 
one  for  Turkey,  but  it  would  have  been  better  for 
England  and  for  all  the  people  of  European  Turkey 

132 


THE  RUSSIANS  AT  SAN  STEFANO 

if  it  had  been  allowed  to  stand,  and  far  better  for  the 
Armenians  of  Asia.  The  Sultan  himself  had  no 
reason  to  thank  England  or  Austria  for  their  inter- 
vention. The  secret  convention  by  which  England 
acquired  Cyprus  was  little  better  than  a  theatrical 
trick  of  Lord  Beaconsfield's.  It  interested  the  Col- 
lege only  in  that  the  British  government  asked  us 
to  furnish  them  w4th  officials  from  among  our 
graduates.  The  treaty  of  Berlin,  which  was  signed 
July  13,  1878,  was  one  of  the  most  important 
events  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  European  his- 
tory, but  it  was  not  made  in  the  interest  of  any  one 
in  the  Turkish  Empire.  I  do  not  know  that  it  pro- 
fessed to  be,  although  Lord  Beaconsfield  congratu- 
lated himself  on  having  "consolidated"  the  em- 
pire, an  euphemism  for  having  reduced  the  size  of 
it.  Each  Power  sought  only  to  further  its  own  in- 
terests and  ambitions;  and  for  the  people  chiefly 
concerned  the  result  has  been  a  succession  of  wars, 
revolutions  and  massacres  down  to  the  present  day. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  this  treaty,  but  we 
may  take  a  single  illustration  from  the  people  in 
whom  the  College  was  most  interested  at  that  time, 
the  Bulgarians.  The  treaty  of  San  Stefano  had 
created  a  Bulgaria  essentially  on  the  lines  agreed  to 
by  the  Powers  at  the  Conference  of  Constantinople. 
The  treaty  of  Berlin  divided  the  Bulgarians  into 
jive  sections,  giving  one  part  to  Servia,  one  to  Rou- 
mania,  one  to  an  autonomous  province  called  East- 
ern Roumelia,  one  to  Turkey  and  one  to  constitute 
the  Principality  of  Bulgaria  under  the  suzerainty 
of  the  Sultan;  and  it  was  England  especially  that 
insisted  upon  this  and  also  upon  the  right  of  Turkey 

133 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  occupy  and  fortify  the  range  of  the  Balkans,  all 
with  the  object  of  making  it  impossible  for  the  Bul- 
garians to  form  a  viable  state,  which  might  be 
friendly  to  Russia.  The  Englishmen  who  knew 
Bulgaria,  all  our  friends,  understood  the  folly  and 
wickedness  of  this  at  the  time.  All  England  has 
learned  it  since.  Thus  far  the  results  have  been  the 
revolution  of  1885,  which  resulted  in  the  union  of 
Bulgaria  and  Eastern  Roumelia,  the  war  with 
Servia,  the  insurrection  in  Macedonia  and  the  prov- 
ince of  Adrianople,  and  all  the  massacres  and  un- 
speakable horrors  of  the  last  thirty-nine  years  in 
Macedonia,  to  say  nothing  of  what  Bulgaria  has 
suffered  from  the  intrigues  of  foreign  Powers  ever 
since  the  treaty  of  Berlin.  The  awful  massacres 
and  persecutions  from  which  the  Armenians  have 
suffered  since  1886  have  been  equally  the  result  of 
this  treaty. 

At  the  time,  however,  the  advent  of  peace  was  a 
great  boon  to  Constantinople  and  to  the  College, 
although  we  were  brought  into  direct  relations  with 
an  amount  of  human  suffering  on  the  part  of  the 
Turkish  refugees  from  Bulgaria  which  was  very 
distressing,  and  we  found  ourselves  feeding  and 
clothing  some  of  the  very  people  who  had  massacred 
the  Bulgarians  two  years  before.  There  were  many 
of  them  quartered  near  the  College,  and  a  few  re- 
main to  this  day  (1907)  still  recipients  of  our  char- 
ity. Some  of  them  suffered  great  remorse  for  what 
they  had  done  and  felt  that  their  present  suffering 
was  a  just  judgment  of  God,  and  most  of  those  near 
us  have  proved  to  be  very  decent  though  very  igno- 
rant people.   Some  have  returned  to  Bulgaria. 

134 


THE  RUSSIANS  AT  SAN  STEFANO 

There  was  a  severe  shock  of  eartlicjuake  in  Con- 
stantinople April  19,  which  alarmed  the  city  and 
shook  Hamlin  Hall  vigorously,  but  without  doing 
any  injury  to  the  building  or  causing  any  loss  of  life 
in  the  city.  People's  minds  were  so  much  occupied 
with  the  political  disturbances  that  the  earthquake 
excited  very  little  attention. 

Dr.  Long  proved  himself  a  very  efficient  director 
of  the  College  and  a  very  wise  representative  of  its 
interests  in  these  troublous  times,  with  our  neigh- 
bors the  Turks  as  well  as  at  the  embassies  and  with 
the  government.  It  was  due  largely  to  him  that 
the  peace  of  the  College  was  never  disturbed  and 
that  none  of  our  Bulgarian  students  were  molested. 

I  spent  the  year  in  America,  and  so  far  as  my 
health  permitted  I  devoted  myself  to  raising  money 
to  aid  those  students  who  had  been  left  in  poverty 
by  the  massacres  and  the  war  in  Bulgaria.  Thanks 
to  the  kindness  of  many  friends,  especially  in 
Boston  and  vicinity,  I  raised  five  thousand  dollars 
for  this  purpose.  We  also  received  some  money 
from  friends  in  England.  I  often  saw  Mr.  Robert 
durins:  the  year.  He  was  in  feeble  health,  and  the 
doctors  sent  him  to  Europe  in  June,  1878;  but  his 
interest  in  the  College  never  flagged,  and  his  ina- 
bility to  sufficiently  endow  it  was  a  constant  burden 
on  his  mind.  The  last  time  that  we  spoke  about 
it  the  tears  ran  down  his  cheeks  as  he  talked,  but 
he  had  great  faith  in  its  future.  I  also  visited  Dr. 
Hamlin  in  Bangor.  His  heart  was  still  in  the  Col- 
lege, but  he  altogether  disapproved  of  everything 
which  the  College  had  done  in  connection  with  the 
Bulgarians,  and  thought  that  Dr.  Long  and  I  had 

135 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  put  an  end  to  its  usefulness. 
I  did  not  succeed  in  convincing  him  that  times  had 
changed  since  he  left  Constantinople.  All  the  same, 
I  had  a  very  pleasant  visit  and,  in  spite  of  what  he 
said,  had  very  little  doubt  but  that  if  he  had  been 
in  our  place  he  would  have  done  very  much  the 
things  that  we  did. 

The  Commencement  exercises  took  place  in  the 
middle  of  July,  a  few  days  after  the  signing  of  the 
treaty  of  Berlin,  when  the  city  was  rejoicing  in 
peace,  and  brought  together  quite  a  distinguished 
assembly.  Mr.  Maynard,  the  American  minister, 
presided;  Sir  Henry  Layard,  the  British  ambassa- 
dor, made  a  speech;  the  Turkish  government  was 
represented  by  an  officer  who  spoke  in  praise  of  the 
College;  and  the  Armenian  Patriarch  sent  his  vicar 
to  present  his  salutations  and  best  wishes.  It  was  a 
happy  end  of  a  very  trying  year,  and  all  our  students 
were  able  to  return  in  peace  to  their  homes. 

There  were  8  in  the  graduating  class,  of  whom  3 
were  Bulgarians,  3  Armenians,  1  a  Greek  and  1  an 
Englishman.  Only  three  of  this  class  are  still  living 
(1907),  two  of  them  in  Constantinople  and  one  in 
New  York.  One  of  the  Bulgarians  was  distin- 
guished as  a  jurist  and  a  diplomatist,  the  other  two 
were  officers  in  the  Bulgarian  army.  Of  the  others, 
two  were  in  the  civil  service  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, one  is  a  banker,  one  a  merchant  in  Con- 
stantinople, and  one  an  official  in  New  York. 


136 


CHAPTER  XI 

MR.  Robert's  death.   1878-1879 

This  year  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  the  College.  Mr.  Robert  died  sud- 
denly in  Paris,  October  27,  1878.  He  had  been  in 
feeble  health  for  some  months,  but  his  death  was 
unexpected.  He  had  written  me  a  long  letter  on  the 
25th  and  was  about  to  return  to  America.  His  death 
left  the  College  to  stand  or  fall  on  its  own  merits. 
Up  to  this  time  he  had  controlled  and  supported  it. 
Nothing  had  been  done  in  the  College  without  his 
knowledge  and  approval.  In  addition  to  weekly 
letters,  monthly  reports  were  made  to  him  of  every 
detail  of  expenditure  and  of  every  student  in  the 
College,  and  in  return  we  received  advice  or  instruc- 
tions from  him  in  regard  to  everything.  It  is  true 
that  we  did  not  always  follow  his  advice  or  even 
obey  his  instructions;  but  in  such  cases  we  never 
failed  to  explain  and  justify  our  action  by  a  full 
statement  of  our  reasons,  which  he  generally  ac- 
cepted as  satisfactory  and  always  with  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  fact  that  he  might  be  mistaken.  The 
trustees  in  New  York  naturally  left  everything  to 
him.  We  had  no  correspondence  with  them,  and 
except  Mr.  Booth  and  Dr.  Coe  he  seldom  con- 
sulted them.  They  knew  very  little  about  the  Col- 
lege. Whatever  money  was  expended  during  these 
fifteen    years    for    building,    current    expenses    or 

137 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

any  other  purpose,  he  furnished.  How  much  it 
amounted  to  I  do  not  know,  but  it  could  not  have 
been  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars. This  was  not  an  ideal  arrangement,  and  Mr. 
Robert's  death  left  the  College  in  a  precarious  posi- 
tion. But  in  reading  the  correspondence  of  those 
fifteen  years  I  have  been  deeply  impressed  with  its 
revelation  of  Mr.  Robert's  character,  as  a  man 
whose  chief  end  in  life  was  to  understand  and  do 
the  will  of  God.  He  loved  the  College  and  cared 
for  it  as  a  shepherd  might  love  and  care  for  his 
master's  flock,  but  it  was  not  as  his  College.  It 
was  the  Master's.  He  did  not  look  upon  those  who 
were  at  work  in  the  College  as  his  servants,  but  with 
him  fellow-servants  of  the  Master.  His  experience 
in  connection  with  the  College  seemed  to  develop  a 
spirit  of  humility  rather  than  pride  and  self-satis- 
faction, and  as  the  years  went  on  it  was  more  and 
more  a  work  of  faith  rather  than  self-confidence. 
It  was  God's  work,  and  it  would  prosper.  It  should 
be  remembered  that  he  solemnly  protested  against 
having  his  name  given  to  the  College,  and  that  he  did 
everything  in  his  power  to  induce  others  to  share  his 
interest  and  responsibility.  He  realized  as  fully  as 
we  did  the  dangers  of  the  situation  in  which  we 
might  be  left.  He  never  drew  upon  the  money  in- 
vested for  endowment  to  meet  expenses,  and  he  set 
apart  a  contingent  fund  himself  which  the  trustees 
might  use  to  meet  any  emergency  in  case  of  his 
death.  Nothing  tried  his  faith  so  sorely  as  Dr. 
Hamlin's  failure  to  interest  others  in  the  College. 
He  never  blamed  him,  but  he  felt  it  to  be  a  mys- 
terious dispensation  of  Providence,  which  he  could 

138 


MR.  ROBERT'S  DEATH 

not  understand,  but  which  he  must  not  allow  to  dis- 
turb his  faith. 

When  he  died  we  found  ourselves  in  possession  of 

property  in  Constantinople  valued  at  $150,000 

Endowment  raised  by  Dr.  Hamlin  and 

invested 12,000 

Endowment  given  by   Mr.    Remington 

and  invested       .....  5,000 

Contingent  Fund  —  invested          .         .  10,000 


Total $177,000 

In  his  will  he  left  the  College  the  real  estate  that  he 
owned  at  Lookout  Mountain,  where  he  had  opened 
a  school  after  the  war,  which  we  sold  some  years 
later  for  forty  thousand  dollars,  and  also  one-fifth 
of  his  general  estate.  His  will  w^as  contested  by 
some  members  of  his  family,  but  finally,  some  years 
later,  it  w^as  decided  in  favor  of  the  College,  and  we 
received  about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  our 
one-fifth. 

The  trustees  to  whom  we  were  responsible  w-ere 
William  A.  Booth,  President,  Rev.  Dr.  D.  B.  Coe, 
Secretary,  J.  D.  Vermilye,  Treasurer,  W.  G.  Lam- 
bert, A.  S.  Barnes  and  E.  A.  Brinkerhoff. 
Except  the  first  two  we  had  at  this  time  no  ac- 
quaintance with  them,  and  they  knew  but  little  of 
us  or  our  work.  Mr.  INIerriman,  who  had  been  for 
some  years  Mr.  Robert's  private  secretary,  was  the 
only  other  person  in  New  York  who  had  any  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  the  details  of  college  affairs,  and 
he  continued  to  assist  the  treasurer  for  many  years, 
being  at  the  same  time  in  the  service  of  Mr.  Robert's 

139 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

eldest  son,  who  was  the  executor  of  his  father's  will 
and  united  with  the  College  in  defending  it. 

It  was  of  course  impossible  for  the  trustees  to 
assume  any  such  supervision  of  the  College  as  Mr. 
Robert  had  carried  on,  but  they  realized  their  re- 
sponsibility for  the  property  and  legal  status  of  the 
institution  and  did  what  they  could  to  carry  out  the 
wishes  of  the  Faculty;  but  we  were  made  to  under- 
stand that  henceforth  the  fate  of  the  College  de- 
pended upon  us  and  not  upon  them.  They  had 
appointed  me  president  June  6,  1878,  just  before 
Mr.  Robert  left  for  Europe,  and  at  our  request  Dr. 
Long  was  appointed  vice-president.  I  find  in  the 
correspondence  that  they  also  appointed  an  advis- 
ory committee  in  Constantinople,  consisting  of  the 
American  minister,  the  American  consul  general 
and  half  a  dozen  missionaries,  nominated  by  us; 
but  I  have  no  recollection  of  ever  having  called  this 
committee  together,  and  I  suspect  that  it  was  even 
more  short-lived  than  Dr.  Hamlin's  advisory  com- 
mittee, although  we  often  had  occasion  to  seek  the 
advice  of  individual  members. 

Probably  the  most  important  act  of  the  trustees 
during  the  year  was  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Alex- 
ander van  Millingen  as  professor.  He  has  been  one 
of  the  main  pillars  of  the  College  ever  since.  Born 
in  Constantinople,  educated  in  Scotland  and  a  min- 
ister of  the  Free  Church,  the  son  of  a  distinguished 
English  physician,  who  was  one  of  the  most  note- 
worthy men  in  Constantinople  during  a  long  period 
of  years,  he  has  rendered  invaluable  service  to  the 
College  and  is  recognized  as  the  highest  authority 
on  the  archaeology  of  Constantinople.     Although 

140 


MR.  ROBERT'S  DEATH 

appointed  during  this  year,  he  did  not  enter  upon  his 
work  until  the  beginning  of  the  next,  having  in  the 
meantime  married  one  o|  the  most  brilliant  and  at- 
tractive ladies  in  New  Haven,  Conn. 

The  fact  that  Professor  van  Millingen's  appoint- 
ment was  made  at  the  request  of  the  Faculty  is  evi- 
dence that  we  had  not  lost  our  faith  in  the  future  of 
the  College.  In  fact  we  felt  that  there  was  nothing 
for  us  to  do  but  to  go  forward,  trusting  in  God, 
and  to  make  the  College  worthy  of  support.  That 
meant  progress  and  development.  To  remain  sta- 
tionary meant  failure,  for  the  influence  of  the  Col- 
lege had  already  created  a  demand  for  a  higher  and 
better  education  than  any  one  in  Turkey  had 
thought  of  fifteen  years  before,  and  the  new  Bul- 
garia was  crying  out  for  thoroughly  educated  young 
men.  We  could  not  diminish  our  expenditure.  We 
prepared  to  increase  it.  Only,  as  president  of  the 
College,  I  determined  that  we  should  keep  out  of 
debt  and  never  spend  money  which  was  not  in  sight. 
We  adhered  to  this  principle,  although  we  often  had 
occasion  to  mourn  over  lost  opportunities,  or  what 
seemed  to  be  such,  but  I  believe  in  the  principle  to- 
day as  firmly  as  I  did  thirty  years  ago.  I  have  al- 
ways looked  upon  this  as  God's  work  and  felt  that, 
if  we  did  our  duty  in  it,  He  would  give  us  the  means 
to  carry  it  forward  just  as  fast  as  He  saw  it  to  be 
best. 

When  the  College  opened  in  September,  1878,  the 
treaty  of  Berlin  had  been  signed,  but  the  condition 
of  things  in  Constantinople  and  in  the  provinces 
was  far  from  satisfactory.  The  Russian  armies  still 
occupied  Bulgaria  and  were  still  encamped  at  San 

141 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Stefano.  The  Turkish  government  was  bankrupt 
and  disorganized,  the  city  was  still  full  of  starving 
refugees,  and  the  irredeemable  paper  money  was 
our  only  currency,  so  that  business  was  stagnant. 
We  could  not  hope  for  any  immediate  increase  in 
the  number  of  our  students.  The  year  opened  with 
96  boarders  and  38  day  scholars,  134  in  all,  against 
108  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  year,  which,  all 
things  considered,  was  encouraging.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  there  were  103  boarders  and  43  day  schol- 
ars present. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  we  published  the  first 
catalogue  of  the  College.  It  was  in  the  English 
language  and  designed  for  circulation  in  America 
rather  than  in  Turkey.  Statements  in  regard  to  the 
College  for  use  in  this  country  had  to  be  published 
in  five  different  languages.  This  catalogue  shows 
that  at  that  time  there  were  five  professors  (not  in- 
cluding Professor  van  Millingen),  three  American 
tutors,  one  French,  one  German,  one  Italian,  one 
Greek,  one  Turkish  and  one  Armenian  instructors, 
besides  a  teacher  of  music  and  the  president's 
secretary.  It  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  76 
graduates  of  the  College,  and  shows  that  up  to  that 
time  there  had  been  912  different  students  in  the 
College.  It  gives  the  names,  nationality  and  resi- 
dence of  11  Seniors,  9  Juniors,  19  Sophomores,  14 
Freshmen,  22  Sub-Freshmen  and  76  preparatory 
students,  151  in  all  registered  during  the  year,  to- 
gether with  all  necessary  information  in  regard  to 
the  course  of  study,  the  terms  of  admission,  and,  in 
general,  of  the  objects  of  the  College.  It  is  a  pam- 
phlet of  twenty-eight  pages,  printed  in  Constanti- 

142 


MR.  ROBERT'S  DEATH 

nople  by  an  Armenian  who  learned  his  trade  in 
Andover,  Mass. 

Lookinir  over  the  list  of  instructors  reminds  me  of 
my  experience  with  the  German  mstructor.  He 
was  a  brilliant  and  accomplished  young  man  of  one 
of  the  best  families  in  the  kingdom  of  Hanover, 
and  the  leading  German  pastor  in  New  York  city 
gave  him  the  highest  recommendations;  but  he 
turned  out  to  be  a  thoroughgoing  vagabond,  who 
had  run  away  from  Hanover  to  escape  from  military 
service.  When  we  found  him  out  we  had  to  expel 
him  from  the  College,  and  for  many  years  he  used 
to  send  me,  every  few  months,  from  different  parts 
of  the  world,  abusive  postal  cards,  informing  me  of 
his  intention  to  come  to  Constantinople  to  kill  me  or 
to  horsewhip  me  in  the  streets,  or  some  other  threat. 
It  is  some  years  now  since  I  have  heard  of  him,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  he  is  dead.  The  story  of  my 
experience  with  him  from  first  to  last  would  furnish 
material  for  the  stage  of  a  Bowery  theatre. 

The  American  tutors  this  year  were  Mr.  Nash,  of 
whom  I  have  already  spoken,  Mr.  Porter,  who  was 
here  only  one  year,  and  Edward  M.  Vittum,  who  is 
now  (1907)  president  of  a  College  in  North  Dakota. 

I  returned  from  America  in  September,  1878,  in 
better  health,  traveling  by  way  of  England,  where 
Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  stopped  to  visit  Mr.  William 
E.  Forster,  the  famous  English  statesman,  at  his 
home  in  the  English  Lake  Country.  INIrs.  Forster 
was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  and  we 
saw  much  of  Matthew  Arnold,  who  was  visiting 
his  mother  at  this  time.  Mr.  Forster  had  been  for 
several  years  one  of  our  most  trusted  and  most 

143 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

influential  friends  in  England  and  was  so  as  long  as 
he  lived.  He  was  one  of  England's  ablest  statesmen. 
The  misfortune  of  his  life  was  his  appointment  as 
Irish  Secretary.  I  visited  him  in  London  soon  after 
his  appointment,  and  I  know  that  he  accepted  the 
ofBce  out  of  pure  benevolence,  with  the  one  thought 
of  conciliation  and  with  full  faith  that  the  Irish 
people  would  trust  his  justice  and  goodwill.  In  the 
time  of  the  great  famine  he  had  gone  with  his  father 
to  the  rescue  of  the  sufferers  in  Ireland  and  had 
never  lost  the  sympathy  for  them  which  had  its 
origin  in  that  visit.  He  was  of  an  old  Quaker  family 
and  a  man  of  very  tender  heart.  I  was  walking 
with  him  one  day  over  the  hills  near  his  house  when 
we  started  several  hares.  I  asked  him  if  he  ever 
indulged  in  shooting.  He  answered,  "I  never  shed 
the  blood  of  any  fellow  creature."  It  was  in  this 
spirit  that  he  went  to  Ireland  and  there  escaped 
assassination  only  by  an  accident.  I  asked  him  once 
what  he  thought  of  Matthew  Arnold  as  a  philoso- 
pher. He  said,  "I  have  often  told  Matthew  that 
he  ought  to  make  up  his  own  mind  before  un- 
dertaking to  instruct  the  world."  We  found  Mat- 
thew Arnold  a  most  interesting  conversationalist, 
and,  as  we  went  to  church  together  one  Sunday,  I 
found  him  apparently  one  of  the  most  devout  wor- 
shipers in  the  congregation. 

The  next  time  that  I  visited  Mr.  Forster  was  in 
the  summer  of  1880,  when  he  had  just  carried 
through  the  House  of  Commons  a  bill  designed  to 
conciliate  the  people  of  Ireland.  I  was  in  London 
when  it  came  before  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the 
Marquis  of  Bath  secured  from  the  Lord  Chancellor 

144 


MR.  ROBERT'S  DEATH 

an  invitation  for  me  to  a  scat  on  the  steps  of  the 
throne,  where  I  had  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Mr. 
Forster  and  other  distinguished  men  for  company. 
It  was  one  of  those  rare  occasions  when  the  Lords 
muster  in  full  force  to  resist  a  Liberal  government. 
They  were  all  there  that  night,  and  they  rejected 
Mr.  Forster's  bill  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 
This  was  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  the  debate  was 
not  of  a  high  order.  BeaconsjSeld,  who  led,  was 
dull.  The  only  eloquence  was  on  the  Liberal  side. 
What  impressed  me  most  was  that  the  Lords  were 
not  an  intellectual  looking  set  of  men.  There  were 
great  men  there,  but  the  majority  looked  as  though 
they  neither  knew  nor  cared  anything  about  the 
questions  —  old  men  with  one  foot  in  the  grave, 
young  fellows  who  looked  excessively  bored  and 
men  with  no  gleam  of  intelligence  in  their  faces. 
I  lost  my  faith  in  the  House  of  Lords  that  night. 

On  our  arrival  at  Constantinople  after  a  year's 
absence  we  found  Dr.  Long  very  anxious  as  to  the 
health  of  his  daughter;  and,  not  long  after,  Mrs. 
Long  and  his  daughter  went  to  southern  France  in 
the  hope  that  a  change  of  climate  might  restore  her 
health,  but  before  the  end  of  the  year  he  found  it 
necessary  to  go  to  Montpellier  and  bring  his  family 
back.  His  daughter  died  at  the  College,  August  3, 
1879,  after  which  the  family  went  to  live  at  the 
house  belonging  to  the  College  in  Hissar.  In  the 
intimate  relations  in  which  we  lived,  the  whole 
College  in  Hamlin  Hall,  we  all  shared  in  the  trial 
through  which  Dr.  Long  and  his  family  were 
passing. 

While  I  was  in  America  my  attention  was  called 

145 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  the  fact  that  a  young  Armenian,  who  had  come  to 
America  and  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College,  was 
raising  money  to  found  a  university  at  Constanti- 
nople, under  the  patronage,  as  he  claimed,  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  other  distin- 
guished officials  and  philanthropists,  in  opposition 
to  Robert  College.  I  was  requested  by  some  persons 
to  whom  he  had  applied  for  money  to  investigate  the 
matter  in  America  and  in  Constantinople.  I  was 
told  in  America  that  he  claimed  to  be  sure  of  a  very 
large  sum  of  money  —  as  much  as  a  million,  it  was 
said;  but  Peter  Cooper,  whom  he  claimed  as  one 
of  the  largest  givers,  declared  that  he  had  never 
promised  to  give  anything.  He  had  secured,  how- 
ever, some  money  and  the  patronage  of  a  number 
of  distinguished  men  and  women,  including  one  or 
two  personal  acquaintances  of  mine.  One  of  the 
best-known  clergymen  in  New  York  roundly  abused 
me  and  called  me  hard  names  for  the  inquiries  that 
I  made.  In  Constantinople  I  could  find  no  one 
who  knew  anything  of  this  projected  university. 
The  young  man  came  to  Constantinople  with  some 
money  and  was  said  to  have  bought  a  house  for 
himself  in  Scutari.  That  is  the  last  that  I  have 
heard  of  him.  I  have  nothing  to  say  of  this  young 
man's  honesty  or  good  intentions.  He  had  been  a 
long  time  absent  from  Turkey  and  perhaps  did  not 
know  that  his  scheme  was  an  absurd  and  impossible 
one.  What  interested  me  in  the  matter  was  this: 
Dr.  Hamlin,  whom  everybody  had  professed  to 
honor,  had  been  trying  for  years  to  raise  money  for 
Robert  College;  and  many  of  the  very  people,  the 
best  of  people  too,  who  had  honored  him  but  given 

146 


MR.  ROBERT'S  DEATH 

him  no  money,  were  ready  to  take  up,  champion 
and  support  a  young  man,  a  foreigner,  just  out  of 
college,  in  founding  a  university  in  Constantinople  in 
opposition  to  Robert  College,  without  even  taking 
the  trouble  to  inquire  whether  his  scheme  was  a 
practicable  one  or  not.  I  record  the  story  here 
because  it  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  American 
benevolence,  of  which  this  is  not  the  only  illustra- 
tion that  has  come  to  my  notice. 

The  political  event  of  the  year  which  most  inter- 
ested us  at  Robert  College  was  the  national  con- 
vention which  met  at  Tirnova  in  April,  1879,  to 
adopt  a  constitution  and  choose  a  prince  of  Bul- 
garia, under  the  supervision  of  a  Russian  general. 
All  Europe  looked  on  with  interest,  and  all  Europe 
was  astonished  at  the  result.  It  was  natural  enough 
that  the  favorite  cousin  of  the  Czar,  Prince  Alexander 
of  Battenberg,  should  be  chosen  prince,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Powers.  It  was  most  unexpected 
that  the  constitution  adopted  should  be  one  of  the 
most  democratic  in  Europe,  and  that  Russia  made 
no  objection  to  it.  The  assembly  itself  was  unique, 
made  up  largely  of  peasants,  many  of  them  in  their 
sheepskin  clothes,  and  I  think  that  there  was  no  one 
in  the  assembly  who  knew  anything  about  parlia- 
mentary law  except  the  old  students  of  Robert 
College,  who  were  in  force.  There  was  not  a  mem- 
ber who  had  had  any  personal  experience  in  civil 
government.  One  of  the  acts  of  the  assembly  was 
to  pass  a  resolution  of  gratitude  to  Dr.  Long  and 
myself  for  what  we  had  done  for  the  elevation  and 
independence  of  Bulgaria.  Similar  resolutions  of 
thanks  to  Mr.  Gladstone  and  IVIr.  Schuyler  were 

147 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

adopted.  Prince  Alexander  himself  was  a  young 
man  without  experience,  and  for  his  private  secre- 
tary he  chose  Mr.  Stoiloff,  a  graduate  of  the  class 
of  1871,  who  became  his  most  intimate  friend  and 
counsellor. 

The  other  Bulgarian  province  of  Eastern  Rou- 
melia  was  also  organized  by  a  European  com- 
mission, and  a  Bulgarian,  who  had  been  in  the 
Turkish  service,  appointed  governor.  Austria  se- 
cured Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  only  by  conquest 
after  a  long  and  fierce  conflict  with  the  inhabitants. 
Servia,  Roumania  and  Montenegro  became  inde- 
pendent states,  but  other  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  as  to  Greece,  Macedonia  and  Montenegro, 
were  not  carried  out. 

The  class  which  graduated  in  July,  1879,  num- 
bered 11,  —  6  Bulgarians  and  5  Armenians,  6  of 
whom  are  still  living  (1907).  Of  the  Bulgarians 
one  became  a  teacher,  two  lawyers,  of  whom  one  is  a 
distinguished  judge,  one  an  officer  in  the  Bulgarian 
army,  two  are  dead.  Of  the  Armenians  one  be- 
came a  physician,  one  a  teacher  and  clergyman, 
the  others  merchants. 


148 


CHAPTER  XII 

AFTER  THE   WAR.     1879-1880 

In  the  summer  vacation  of  1879  Mr.  Maynard 
invited  Professor  Panaretoff,  who  knew  both  Turk- 
ish and  Russian,  and  me  to  go  with  him  on  a  trip 
around  the  Black  Sea  in  the  United  States  corvette 
Wyoming,  commanded  by  Captain  Watson.  It  was 
the  first  time  that  an  American  war  vessel  had  been 
seen  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  we  visited  all  the  prin- 
cipal Turkish  and  Russian  ports,  and  were  received 
everywhere  with  the  highest  honors  by  the  authori- 
ties and  with  enthusiasm  by  the  people.  The  Wyo- 
ming itself  was  a  sad  specimen  of  the  decay  of  the 
American  navy.  Her  boilers  leaked  so  that  she 
could  not  make  more  than  six  or  seven  knots  an 
hour,  and  her  guns  were  in  such  a  damaged  condi- 
tion that  it  was  not  safe  to  fire  them;  but  her  officers 
and  men  were  an  honor  to  the  country,  and,  when 
she  was  lying  in  a  harbor,  she  was  not  a  bad  looking 
ship.  What  most  interested  us  in  Russia  was  that  it 
was  an  Empire  of  Discontent.  High  or  low,  official 
or  unofficial,  it  made  no  difference;  everyone  talked 
of  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  country  — 
even  General  Todleben,  the  hero  of  Sevastopol  and 
Plevna,  who  was  then  the  governor-general  of 
Odessa.  It  was  a  result  of  the  Russo-Turkish  War 
—  a  foretaste  of  what  was  to  follow  the  war  with 
Japan,  and,  but  for  the  assassination  of  the  Czar,  it 

149 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

might  have  led  to  such  changes  as  would  have  saved 
Russia  from  the  calamities  of  the  last  few  years.  It 
is  well  known  that  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  on 
the  point  of  giving  a  constitution  to  his  people. 

We  returned  to  Constantinople  in  season  for  the 
opening  of  the  College.  The  number  of  students 
was  130  boarders  and  48  day  scholars.  At  the  close 
of  the  year  it  was  137  boarders  and  56  day  scholars. 
The  whole  number  registered  during  the  year  was 
209,  — Bulgarians  77,  Armenians  74,  Greeks  27, 
other  nationalities  31,  a  decided  advance  over  the 
previous  year.  Professor  Grosvenor  was  absent 
during  the  year  on  account  of  the  health  of  his  fam- 
ily. Professor  van  Millingen  joined  us,  and  Miss 
Susan  Farley,  a  niece  of  Dr.  Hamiin,  came  out  as 
matron.  During  the  year  we  lost  Mr.  Maynard, 
who  was  recalled  to  be  Postmaster- General.  To 
him  and  to  his  family  the  College  owes  a  debt  of 
gratitude  which  no  one  connected  with  us  at  the 
time  can  ever  forget,  and  the  United  States  has 
never  been  more  worthily  represented  in  Constan- 
tinople than  by  them.  He  was  followed  by  General 
Longstreet,  who  found  himself  out  of  his  sphere  and 
remained  here  less  than  a  year. 

The  inner  life  of  the  College  during  this  year  was 
uneventful,  but  the  work  done  was  most  satisfac- 
tory. Everything  was  harmonious,  and  the  students 
not  only  did  good  work  in  their  classes,  but  encour- 
aged us  to  feel  that  we  were  really  moulding  their 
characters  and  fitting  them  for  a  higher  life.  We 
have  always  felt  that  the  religious  side  of  our  work 
was  the  most  important  part  of  it  —  the  only  reason 
for  our  being  here  at  all;  but  it  is  very  diflBcult  to 

150 


AFTER  THE  WAR 

tabulate  or  even  to  describe  the  nature  or  the 
results  of  it.  The  Sunday  services  and  the  daily 
religious  exercises  which  all  the  students  are  re- 
quired to  attend  are  very  important,  but  I  have  al- 
ways felt  that  our  direct  personal  influence  and  the 
incidental  religious  teaching  in  the  classroom  were 
more  important.  I  have  just  read  a  letter  from  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  our  earlier  graduates 
which  was  written  in  1880,  in  which  he  says,  "My 
interior  and  religious  convictions  show  me  only  one 
principle  of  life  and  that  is  duty  towards  God  and 
duty  towards  my  fellow  men,"  and  he  thinks  that 
the  government  of  Bulgaria  should  send  young  men 
to  Robert  College  as  the  one  place  where  this  lesson 
can  be  learned.  We  have  been  disappointed  in 
some  of  our  students,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  many  of 
them  have  illustrated  this  principle  in  their  lives, 
and  it  is  also  true  that  the  high  reputation  of  the  Col- 
lege all  over  this  part  of  the  world  is  due  to  the  per- 
sonal character  of  our  graduates.  A  tree  is  known 
by  its  fruit  and  a  college  by  its  graduates. 

While  it  was  always  our  purpose  to  keep  politics 
out  of  the  College,  we  could  not  but  feel  an  intense 
interest  in  the  course  of  events  about  us,  and  this 
year  everything  seemed  to  be  going  wrong.  What- 
ever personal  influence  I  had  I  used  in  the  various 
complications  which  arose,  without  in  any  way  com- 
promising the  College,  in  the  interest  of  peace  and 
progress.  To  begin  with  Bulgaria,  Mr.  Stoiloff  was 
the  private  secretary  of  Prince  Alexander  and  Mr. 
Dimitroff  was  chief  of  the  Chancellery  of  Aleko 
Pasha,  the  Governor- General  of  Eastern  Roumelia, 
so  that  I  was  in  intimate  relations  with  both;  and 

151 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

in  the  spring  of  1880  I  visited  Eastern  Roumelia. 
Prince  Alexander  had  loyally  undertaken  to  organ- 
ize the  government  of  the  Principality  of  Bulgaria 
under  its  democratic  constitution,  but  the  result  was 
discouraging  and  threatened  anarchy  and  a  new  Rus- 
sian intervention.  There  were  parties  in  Bulgaria 
calling  themselves  conservative  and  liberal,  but  there 
were  no  leaders  who  had  any  experience  in  govern- 
ment, and  the  National  Assembly  chosen  by  the 
people  was  hopelessly  ignorant  and  unmanageable. 
I  suppose  that  nothing  better  could  reasonably  have 
been  expected  of  a  people  suddenly  emancipated 
from  Turkish  rule,  but  it  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  us  as  well  as  to  Prince  Alexander. 

In  Eastern  Roumelia  Robert  College  men  were 
more  numerous  and  the  administration  better  or- 
ganized, but  the  people  resented  their  separation 
from  Bulgaria  and  the  constant  intervention  of  the 
Turks  in  their  affairs,  and  were  encouraged  by 
Russia  to  hope  for  union  with  the  Principality. 
They  were  more  interested  in  revolutionary  plots 
than  in  the  existing  government.  This  was  an  in- 
evitable result  of  the  treaty  of  Berlin,  but  unfor- 
tunate for  the  people  of  Eastern  Roumelia.  While 
I  sympathized  heartily  with  their  desire  for  union,  it 
did  not  seem  to  me  that  it  could  best  be  brought 
about  by  these  revolutionary  methods.  It  was  sure 
to  come  in  time  in  a  peaceful  way. 

In  Asiatic  Turkey  the  situation  was  more  discour- 
aging than  in  Bulgaria.  We  naturally  felt  a  deep 
interest  in  the  Armenians,  and  England,  by  her  ac- 
tion at  Berlin  in  regard  to  the  treaty  of  San  Stefano, 
and  by  the  Cyprus  treaty,  had  made  herself  respon- 

152 


AFTER  THE  WAR 

sible  for  such  reforms  in  Turkey  as  would  secure 
their  well-being.  The  Patriarch  Nerses,  a  noble 
Christian  man,  was  a  friend  of  mine  and  was  the 
embodiment  of  the  hopes  of  his  people,  but  in  no 
sense  a  revolutionist.  He  had  great  faith  in  Eng- 
land, and  when  he  lost  it  he  died  of  a  broken  heart. 

To  a  certain  extent  the  government  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield  had  realized  its  responsibility,  and  Sir 
Henry  Layard  had  pressed  the  matter  here,  with 
the  result  that  there  was  much  talk  about  reforms 
and  an  irade  issued  which  professed  to  ordain  "such 
reforms  as  would  secure  equal  rights  to  all  his  Maj- 
esty's beloved  subjects."  As  it  was  only  a  reform 
on  paper  it  did  not  matter  much  that  it  was  far  less 
liberal  than  some  previous  ones.  The  condition  of 
the  Armenians  in  the  provinces  meanwhile  was 
growing  steadily  worse,  especially  where  the  Kurds 
were  given  a  free  hand  to  plunder  them.  Sir  Henry 
Layard  gave  up  all  hope  of  accomplishing  anything, 
and  when  I\Ir.  Gladstone  came  into  power  he  was 
replaced  by  Mr.  Goschen,  who  came  out  on  a  special 
mission  to  bring  the  Sultan  to  terms,  and  failed.  We 
not  only  regretted  this  failure  from  our  sympathy 
with  the  Armenians,  but  because  it  seemed  to  us 
that  the  Sultan  had  made  a  mistake  which  might 
lead  to  serious  consequences.  It  is  clear  now  that 
he  had  a  better  knowledge  of  the  possibilities  before 
him  than  we  had,  and  he  has  maintained  the  same 
policy  successfully  to  this  day  (1907)  —  of  resisting 
foreign  intervention  and  restricting  the  influence  of 
his  non-Mohammedan  subjects. 

The  situation  in  Constantinople  was  not  much 
better  than  in  the  interior.   The  Sultan  had  already 

153 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

concentrated  the  administration  of  the  government 
in  the  palace  and  begun  to  gather  around  him  the 
sort  of  adventurers  who  have  since  been  the  great 
curse  of  the  empire.  For  a  time  a  Tunisian  states- 
man, Khairadin  Pasha,  had  been  Grand  Vizier  and 
had  excited  the  hopes  of  the  people,  but  he  was 
summarily  dismissed.  The  spirit  of  the  palace  was 
illustrated  by  the  assassination  of  the  military  at- 
tache of  the  Russian  Embassy,  as  he  was  riding 
along  the  public  street,  by  one  of  the  Sultan's  ser- 
vants. This  man  intended  to  murder  the  charge 
d'affaires,  but  mistook  the  military  man  for  him. 
All  the  influence  of  all  the  embassies  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  secure  the  punishment  of  the  assassin. 

The  insecurity  of  the  city  was  brought  home  to  us 
by  the  murder  of  Haritoon,  the  Armenian  steward 
of  the  College,  who  had  been  for  many  years  Dr. 
Hamlin's  right-hand  man  and  most  trusted  assist- 
ant in  everything  mechanical,  as  well  as  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  boarding  department.  He  was  mur- 
dered by  two  hired  assassins  at  midday  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  College,  and  these  assassins 
were  employed  by  an  officer  of  the  palace,  who  had 
attempted  to  abduct  the  two  attractive  daughters  of 
Haritoon,  but  had  failed,  as  their  father  had  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  them  out  of  the  country.  Nothing 
could  be  done  to  secure  the  punishment  of  the  offi- 
cer or  of  the  murderers,  although  the  whole  story 
was  known  by  everybody  in  the  vicinity,  and  told 
pretty  fully  in  the  Turkish  newspapers. 

Some  two  years  later  an  attempt  was  made  to 
murder  me  at  exactly  the  same  place,  but  I  think 
that,  in  this  case,  the  object  was  robbery.   The  man 

154 


AFTER  THE  WAR 

had  crept  up  behind  me  and  was  just  in  the  act  of 
throwing  a  girdle  around  my  neck  to  strangle  me 
when  sonic  unconscious  mental  activity  led  me  to 
suddenly  turn  round  face  to  face  with  the  assassin; 
and  this  unexpected  movement  so  startled  him  that 
he  jumped  back,  and  finally  fled,  believing  no  doubt 
that  I  was  armed. 

One  of  the  curious  incidents  of  this  year  in  which 
we  were  interested  was  the  effort  made  by  Mr. 
Spanoudis,  a  Greek  gentleman,  to  rescue  the  Bul- 
garian women  and  children  who  had  been  captured 
during  the  war  and  were  held  as  slaves  in  Constan- 
tinople and  the  vicinity,  by  the  Turks.  He  under- 
took the  task  as  a  Christian  duty  and  had  many 
extraordinary  adventures.  He  came  to  us  that  we 
might  secure  for  him  the  support  of  the  British  Em- 
bassy, which  we  did.  He  was  the  means  of  rescu- 
ing a  large  number,  w^ho  were  sent  back  to  their 
homes.  Of  this  there  is  no  doubt,  although  I  must 
confess  that  some  of  the  adventures  which  he  re- 
lated sounded  very  much  like  fairy  tales  and  cer- 
tainly could  not  have  been  true,  even  in  Constanti- 
nople, in  ordinary  times;  but  it  was  a  period  of 
uncertainty,  before  the  Sultan  had  established  his 
authority.  Other  extraordinary  things  were  taking 
place,  and  the  Turks  knew  that,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world,  they  had  no  right  to  hold  these  Bulgarians  as 
slaves.  Mr.  Spanoudis  had  the  moral  support  of 
the  Russian  and  British  embassies.  No  one  dared 
to  challenge  or  resist  the  authority  which  he  as- 
sumed. An  English  society,  The  Aborigines  Pro- 
tection Societij,  also  interested  itself  in  this  matter, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  very  large  number  of 

155 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Christian  women  and  children  were  held  in  slavery 
in  other  places  where  they  could  not  be  reached. 

The  question  came  up  during  the  year  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  Dr.  Hamlin's  return  to  the  College,  and 
the  Faculty  unanimously  voted  to  request  the  trus- 
tees to  propose  this  to  him;  but,  after  due  consid- 
eration, the  trustees  decided  that  under  the  circum- 
stances this  was  not  practicable.  About  the  same 
time  they  began  to  insist  upon  the  necessity  of  my 
going  to  America  to  raise  money  for  the  endowment 
of  the  College,  as  nothing  could  be  expected  from 
Mr.  Robert's  estate  for  some  years,  even  if  the  deci- 
sion of  the  highest  courts  should  finally  be  in  our 
favor,  and  our  means  of  support  would  soon  be  ex- 
hausted. Before  the  end  of  the  year  it  was  decided 
that  I  must  come  during  the  summer  and  undertake 
this  work.  It  appeared  to  me  almost  a  hopeless  task ; 
but,  as  it  seemed  to  be  a  matter  of  life  or  death  for 
the  College,  and  there  was  no  one  else  to  go,  I  con- 
sented, left  Constantinople  in  July  and  was  absent 
two  years.  Dr.  Long  acting  as  president  in  my  ab- 
sence. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  Professor  Panaretoff  was 
sent  to  London  by  Prince  Alexander  on  a  special 
mission  to  the  British  government.  As  there  was  no 
conflict  with  the  Turkish  government  involved  we 
made  no  objections. 

The  Commencement  exercises  passed  off  as  suc- 
cessfully as  could  be  expected  in  the  old  study  hall, 
which  was  the  only  room  that  we  had  for  religious 
services  or  public  occasions.  It  was  a  wonder  that 
guests  came  to  be  packed  in  among  the  desks  and 
benches  in  discomfort  for  two  hours;   but  we  did 

156 


AFTER  THE  WAR 

our  best  to  hide  our  nakedness  with  flags,  flowers 
and  green  leaves,  making  it  appear  a  special  favor 
to  allow  them  to  come  by  admitting  only  those  who 
had  cards  of  invitation.  The  crowd  came  as  usual, 
the  distinguished  and  official  guests  occupying  the 
platform,  and  I  suppose  what  really  brought  them 
was  the  prevalent  idea  that  Robert  College  was  a 
centre  of  influence  unsurpassed  by  any  other  in  Con- 
stantinople, in  spite  of  its  meagre  appointments.  In 
fact,  we  had  no  official  position,  no  army  behind  us, 
no  selfish  ambitions  to  gratify,  nothing  but  goodwill 
to  all  and  the  desire  to  lend  a  helping  hand  wherever 
w^e  could. 

There  were  7  graduates  that  year,  all  of  w^hom  are 
still  living  (1907),  4  Bulgarians  and  3  Armenians. 
All  the  Bulgarians  have  occupied  important  oflS- 
cial  positions  and  two  of  them  have  been  distin- 
guished as  teachers.  One  of  the  Armenians  is  the 
first  secretary  of  the  Persian  Legation  in  Washing- 
ton and  two  are  honored  merchants  in  London  and 
New  York. 


157 


CHAPTER  XIII 

TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA,    188D-1882 

I  LEFT  Constantinople  in  July,  1880,  to  raise 
money  for  the  College  in  America  and  did  not  return 
until  August,  1882.  During  my  absence  Dr.  Long 
was  acting  president  of  the  College,  so  that  I  was 
never  disturbed  by  any  anxiety  as  to  what  might 
happen  here.  Dr.  Long  was  by  choice  a  scholar 
and  teacher  and  shrank  from  the  responsibilities 
of  administration;  but  when  called  to  this  work 
he  never  spared  himself,  and  he  made  an  admirable 
president.  He  understood  the  students,  he  loved 
them,  and  his  personal  influence  over  them  was  one 
of  the  best  things  in  the  College  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  The  eighteenth  year  the  Faculty  consisted  of 
Professors  Grosvenor,  van  Millingen,  Hagopos,  Pa- 
naretoff  and  Vittum,  with  Messrs.  Orville  Reed  and 
Charles  Hoyt  as  American  tutors,  and  seven  other 
instructors.  The  nineteenth  year  Mr.  Vittum  had 
returned  to  America  and  Messrs.  Beckwith  and 
Haynes  had  come  to  the  College  as  additional 
tutors. 

In  1881  Professor  van  Millingen  built  a  house  for 
himself  on  the  college  grounds,  for  his  own  use 
while  he  lives  and  then  to  be  the  property  of  the 
College. 

The  number  of  students  registered  the  eighteenth 
year  was  232,  of  whom  74  were  day  scholars.   There 

158 


ALBERT  L    LONG 


TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

were  89  Bulgarians,  85  Armenians,  28  Greeks,  7 
Turks  and  23  others.  The  nineteenth  year  the 
number  registered  was  259,  of  whom  86  were  day 
scholars.  There  were  105  Bulgarians,  94  Arme- 
nians, 2-4  Greeks,  12  Turks,  and  25  others.  The 
building  was  overcrowded  and  the  staff  of  teachers 
too  few  for  the  work,  and  Dr.  Long  wrote  to  me  in 
October,  1881,  "We  must  have  a  new  building  or 
decline."  Nothing  saved  us  at  that  time  from  a 
serious  loss  in  the  number  of  our  students  but 
the  fact  that  Bulgaria  had  not  yet  organized  her 
school  system  and  that  there  was  no  other  institu- 
tion in  Constantinople  which  attracted  either 
Bulgarians  or  Armenians,  and  they  believed  in 
Robert  College.  The  Greeks  were  not  unfriendly 
to  us,  but  they  did  what  they  could  to  keep  their 
students  in  Greek  schools,  and  we  were  too  poor  to 
organize  a  Greek  department  which  would  attract 
them. 

In  December,  1881,  we  were  distressed  by  the  fail- 
ure of  our  bankers,  Messrs.  Charles  S.  Hanson  & 
Co.,  not  so  much  by  the  loss  of  money,  as  we  had 
only  about  twelve  hundred  dollars  on  deposit  at  the 
time,  as  by  the  misfortune  which  had  befallen  a 
family  which  had  been  for  almost  fifty  years  the 
leading  English  family  in  Constantinople  and  had 
been  the  most  trusted  and  devoted  friends  of  the 
College  in  the  city.  Mr.  C.  S.  Hanson  had  died 
not  long  before.  He  and  Mrs.  Hanson  were  the 
best  specimens  I  have  ever  known  of  the  ideal 
English  gentleman  and  lady  of  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Lord  Lyons,  when  he  was 
ambassador  here,  said  the  same  thing  to  me  about 

159 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

them.  Their  sons,  with  their  families,  were  equally 
warm  friends  of  the  College,  and  their  failure  was  a 
decided  loss  for  us,  as  well  as  to  the  English- 
speaking  colony  generally. 

The  political  situation  in  Turkey  and  Bulgaria 
during  these  two  years  was  even  more  discouraging 
than  in  the  previous  year,  and  a  cause  of  anxiety 
to  Dr.  Long,  although  the  consequences  of  it  were 
not  apparent  at  that  time  in  the  College,  which  was 
more  prosperous  than  ever  before.  The  Sultan  had 
fairly  inaugurated  the  policy  which  has  character- 
ized his  reign,  of  resisting  to  the  utmost  all  foreign 
influences  in  the  Empire  and  reducing  the  number 
and  influence  of  his  Christian  subjects,  while  at  the 
same  time  building  up  and  strengthening  the  Mo- 
hammedan population  and  reviving  the  old  spirit 
of  Islam.  I  do  not  know  that  we  have  any  right  to 
blame  the  Caliph  of  the  Mohammedan  world  for 
adopting  this  policy,  if  he  believed  that,  as  Sultan 
of  Turkey,  he  could  put  it  in  execution  without 
endangering  the  existence  of  the  empire  or  violating 
treaty  obligations.  At  the  time  of  which  I  am  writ- 
ing he  was  interested  in  encouraging  a  panislamic 
movement  in  Syria,  Egypt  and  northern  Africa, 
which  finally  led  to  the  English  occupation  of  Egypt. 
He  had  commenced  his  work  of  putting  down  the 
Armenians,  of  limiting  the  rights  of  foreign  and 
native  Christian  schools  and  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gious organizations  generally.  He  was  successfully 
resisting  the  decisions  of  the  Congress  of  Berlin,  in 
favor  of  Greece,  Montenegro  and  Macedonia,  and 
had  refused  to  recognize  the  right  of  England,  under 
the  Cyprus  treaty,  to  interfere  in  the  government 

160 


TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

of  his  Asiatic  provinces.  He  had  made  it  clear  that 
no  Mohammechin  would  be  allowed  to  change  his 
religion  and  that  no  criticism  of  Islam  would  be 
tolerated.  The  general  censorship  of  the  press  had 
commenced.  Although  none  of  these  things  directly 
affected  us,  except  the  school  regulations,  which 
were  never  enforced  against  Robert  College,  the 
general  outlook  was  discouraging,  not  only  here, 
but  for  me  in  America,  where  there  was  a  natural 
hesitation  about  investing  money  in  Turkey. 

We  were  also  very  anxious  about  the  state  of 
things  in  Bulgaria,  where,  in  May,  1881,  Prince 
Alexander,  with  the  approval  of  the  Czar,  sus- 
pended the  Constitution  for  seven  years,  and  brought 
in  Russian  oflScials  to  govern  the  country.  He  was 
supported  in  this  by  the  so-called  conservative  party, 
which  was  in  the  minority  in  the  country.  It 
looked  as  though  Bulgaria  had  been  freed  from 
Turkey  only  to  fall  under  the  equally  bad  rule  of 
Russia,  especially  after  the  assassination  of  the 
Czar  and  the  accession  of  Alexander  III,  who  had 
hated  Prince  Alexander  of  Bulgaria  ever  since  they 
were  boys  together.  The  Russian  officials  now 
took  their  orders  from  St.  Petersburg  and  treated 
the  prince  with  contempt.  They  undertook  the 
Russification  of  everything,  and  if  they  had  been 
men  of  a  different  stamp  they  might  have  won  the 
people  over  to  their  side;  but  they  treated  the 
Bulgarians  as  a  conquered  people,  like  the  tribes 
of  Central  Asia,  alienated  their  sympathies  and 
really  prepared  the  way  for  Prince  Alexander's 
coup  d'etat  of  1883,  when  he  restored  the  Constitu- 
tion and  cleared  them  out.     But  in  1882  there  was 

161 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

no  such  change  in  view,  and  we  felt  as  though  we 
were  to  be  disappointed  of  all  our  hopes  for  this  peo- 
ple of  whom  we  had  expected  so  much.  There  was 
little  that  we  could  do  for  them  beyond  the  influence 
that  we  had  over  our  present  and  former  students 
and  over  the  policy  of  the  British  government 
through  our  friends  in  the  ministry  and  at  the 
Embassy  here.  Things  were  somewhat  better  in 
Eastern  Roumelia,  but  here  two  Russian  consuls 
were  doing  what  they  could  to  create  trouble  and 
foment  discontent.  There  was  nothing  promising 
improvement  in  the  condition  of  Macedonia  or  of 
the  Armenians  in  the  Asiatic  provinces,  but  rather 
a  foretaste  of  what  was  to  come  in  later  years. 

The  conflict  of  interests  among  the  European 
Powers  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  intervene, 
and  gave  the  Sultan  a  free  hand  to  carry  out  his  own 
plans.  England  was  the  only  Power  that  had  the 
interests  of  the  people  of  the  East  at  heart.  At 
this  time,  under  Mr.  Gladstone,  she  did  what  she 
could,  but  she  was  in  danger  of  war  with  Russia. 
France  was  unfriendly  and  Germany  doing  what 
she  could  to  create  difficulties.  She  already  had 
her  eyes  on  Asia  Minor  as  her  share  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire  when  the  empire  went  to  pieces,  and  had 
begun  her  exploitation  of  it  under  the  pretense  of 
friendship  for  the  Sultan.  I  happen  to  know  that 
the  English  Liberal  ministry  did  not  look  upon 
such  a  scheme  with  disfavor.  Russia  was  the 
power  which  they  feared,  and  Asia  Minor  in  the 
hands  of  Germany  would  be  a  barrier  to  her  ad- 
vance and  also  make  it  necessary  for  Germany, 
with  her  small  navy,  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 

162 


TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

England.  England  at  that  time  did  not  want  any 
more  territory  on  the  Mediterranean.  Bismarck, 
after  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  had  urged  upon  her 
the  occupation  of  Egypt,  but  no  statesman  whom 
I  knew  of  either  party  was  in  favor  of  it. 

I  find  nothing  in  the  records  of  the  Faculty 
during  the  two  years  of  my  absence  of  general 
interest,  beyond  the  evidence  which  they  give  of  the 
hard  work  that  was  done  by  all  the  teachers  and  the 
constant  effort  to  advance,  to  do  better  work  in  every 
department  and  to  bring  the  students  up  to  a  higher 
standard  of  life.  I  have  no  account  of  the  Com- 
mencement exercises  in  1882,  but  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Long  gives  a  detailed  account  of  those  of  1881. 
On  July  13  there  were  prize  declamations  in  the 
afternoon  and  a  prize  debate  in  the  evening 
between  the  Sophomore  and  Freshman  classes  on 
the  question  whether  a  state  owes  more  to  her 
literary  men  than  to  her  inventors.  There  were 
good  audiences,  and  the  students  acquitted  them- 
selves with  honor.  But  the  great  day  was  July  14, 
which  brought  out  the  usual  crowd  of  many 
nationalities,  and  the  orations  of  the  graduating 
class  were  in  English,  French,  Armenian  and 
Bulgarian.  The  subjects  are  worth  recording, 
when  it  is  remembered  that  these  orations  were 
delivered  in  Constantinople  by  Armenians,  Greeks 
and  Bulgarians,  —  True  Education,  Christianity 
and  Patriotism,  The  Dark  Ages,  The  Influence  of 
the  Fine  Arts,  Man  and  Nature,  Free  Thought, 
Representative  Government,  Violation  of  Popular 
Rights,  The  Destiny  of  States  and  Nations,  The 
New  Sovereign  (i.  e.  the  People),  Fall  of  the  City  of 

1G3 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Constantine,  and  Political  Parties.  There  was 
certainly  no  other  place  in  Constantinople  where 
such  subjects  could  have  been  publicly  discussed, 
although  there  was  nothing  seditious  in  any  one  of 
them.  They  were  new  subjects  of  thought  for  the 
young  men  of  the  East  and  for  a  Constantinople 
audience. 

Among  the  distinguished  guests  present  were  the 
Persian  Ambassador,  Lord  Dufferin  the  English 
Ambassador,  and  the  Marquis  of  Bath.  The  two 
latter  made  very  interesting  addresses,  after  the 
orations,  and  were  warm  friends  of  the  College  all 
their  lives. 

In  1881  there  were  12  graduates,  of  whom  8  are 
still  living;  9  were  Bulgarians,  2  Armenians  and 
1  Greek.  Six  of  the  Bulgarians  were  teachers  for 
a  time  and  one  an  editor.  One  has  been  for  many 
years  in  the  diplomatic  service.  Four  have  occupied 
important  oflScial  positions.  Two  are  merchants. 
One  of  the  Armenians  is  a  distinguished  teacher,  the 
other  studied  medicine.   The  Greek  is  in  business. 

In  1882  there  were  9  graduates,  of  whom  8  are 
living  (1907);  5  were  Bulgarians,  4  Armenians. 
Two  of  the  Bulgarians  were  teachers  and  one  an 
editor.  Two  are  now  judges  and  one  has  been  Min- 
ister of  Public  Instruction.  One  is  a  merchant. 
One  of  the  Armenians  is  an  official  of  the  Turkish 
government.   The  others  are  in  business. 

My  work  in  America  during  these  two  years  was 
one  for  which  I  am  sure  that  I  was  never  fitted.  I 
never  had  any  difficulty  in  interesting  people  in 
Robert  College,  and  they  were  often  enthusiastic  in 
their  sympathy.   I  can  never  forget  all  the  kindness 

164 


TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

and  goodwill  which  I  met  with  —  the  delightful 
homes  that  were  opened  to  me  and  the  friends  that 
I  made;  but  I  lacked  altogether  that  sort  of  per- 
suasive power  which  I  have  seen  in  many  other 
beggars,  and  could  never  argue  the  question  with 
one  who  declined  to  give.  I  had  many  bitter  dis- 
appointments, but  when  the  two  years  were  over  I 
had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  whatever 
money  I  had  collected  had  been  given  heartily,  not 
under  pressure  of  any  kind,  but  only  because  God 
had  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  the  donors  to  lend  a 
hand  in  what  they  saw  to  be  a  good  work.  In  many 
cases  it  w^as  without  my  ever  directly  asking  for  it. 
Nearly  all  of  these  benefactors  of  the  College  have 
passed  away  to  a  higher  life,  but  their  memory  is 
very  precious.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  prin- 
cipal donors.  In  Boston,  William  Endicott,  Jr., 
Mrs.  V.  G.  Stone,  William  S.  Houghton,  H.  P.  Kid- 
der, S.  D.  Warren,  W.  O.  Grover,  Ezra  Farnsworth, 
Henry  Woods,  Miss  E.  F.  Mason,  J.  N.  Dennison, 
R.  C.  Greenleaf,  Frederick  Ayer,  J.  L.  Brew^er,  Eli- 
sha  Mulford,  Phillips  Brooks,  B.  H.  Nash,  William 
Claflin,  Mrs.  Hemenway,  T.  G.  Appleton,  E.  P. 
Beebe.  In  New  York :  William  E.  Dodge,  William 
E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  M.  K.  Jesup,  D.  Willis  James,  A.  J. 
Barnes,  John  Taylor  Johnson.  In  other  places, 
C.  P.  Whitin  and  Mrs.  John  Whitin  of  Whitinsville, 
P.  L.  Moen  and  Stephen  Salisbury  of  Worcester, 
George  H.  Corliss  of  Providence,  Mrs.  M.  B.  Young 
of  Fall  River,  S.  M.  Edgell  of  St.  Louis.  The  whole 
sum  contributed  was  sixty-one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  fifty-four  dollars. 

There  were  many  others  who  were  like  the  Apos- 

165 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

ties  Peter  and  John.  Silver  and  gold  they  had  none, 
but  such  as  they  had  they  freely  gave,  —  their  sym- 
pathy, their  counsel,  their  influence,  —  Edward  Ev- 
erett Hale,  President  Eliot,  Rev.  Dr.  N.  G.  Clark, 
Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  the  ministers  and  editors 
generally  in  Boston.  Other  college  presidents  and 
ministers  in  New  England  and  New  York  were 
equally  in  sympathy  with  the  College ;  but  most  of 
my  time,  when  I  was  well  enough  to  do  any  work, 
was  spent  in  Boston  and  vicinity,  where  I  was  at 
home.  I  w^as  a  stranger  then  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  except  in  New  York  City.  I  visited  other 
cities  and  met  with  a  hearty  reception  in  many 
homes,  but  got  no  money.  The  first  gift  that  I  re- 
ceived came  unsolicited  from  a  very  poor  man,  a 
good  minister.  It  was  two  silver  half  dollars.  I  re- 
placed them  and  keep  them  still  as  a  memento  and 
shall  have  them  framed  and  put  in  the  College 
Museum. 

I  have  just  gone  through  the  long  list  of  the  names 
of  those  upon  whom  I  called,  from  most  of  whom  I 
got  nothing,  and  I  do  not  recall  anything  unpleasant 
in  connection  with  any  one  of  them.  Only  one  man 
ever  treated  me  uncivilly  and  ordered  me  out  of  his 
office,  and  he  repented  and  did  works  meet  for  re- 
pentance —  gave  me  the  largest  gift  that  I  received. 
I  do  not  regret  the  experience  of  these  two  years  or 
of  those  which  I  have  had  since  in  this  work.  They 
have  brought  me  friends  whom  I  should  not  have 
known  otherwise,  whose  friendship  has  been  one  of 
the  chief  joys  of  my  life,  and  given  me  strength  and 
courage  for  my  work  in  Constantinople.  I  have  no 
complaint  to  make  of  those  who  might  have  given 

166 


TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

money  to  the  College  and  did  not.  I  have  come  to 
feel  a  deep  sympathy  for  all  those  who  are  known  to 
be  givers,  and  to  marvel  at  the  patience  with  which 
they  listen  to  endless  applications  for  money  for 
every  conceivable  scheme,  good,  bad  and  indiffer- 
ent. They  are  right  in  declining  to  give  to  anything 
which  they  do  not  approve  or  do  not  understand, 
and  they  must  choose  among  the  things  which  they 
recognize  as  good.  No  man  can  give  to  everything. 
Robert  College  was  far  away.  It  did  not  appeal 
to  any  national,  denominational  or  party  interest. 
There  were  but  few  who  had  ever  visited  Con- 
stantinople or  realized  its  importance  as  a  centre 
of  influence,  and  few  who  could  understand  the 
power  of  a  Christian  college  to  influence  the  destiny 
of  a  nation.  Those  who  gave  were  those  who  were 
already  interested  in  foreign  missions  and  who  had 
some  knowledge  of  what  Robert  College  was  doing. 
Some  who  began  to  be  interested  at  that  time  kept 
up  this  interest,  learned  more  about  it  and  gave 
liberally  in  later  years. 


167 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   COLLEGE   AT  THE   END   OF  TWENTY   YEARS. 

1882-1884 

On  my  return  from  America  in  the  summer  of 
1882,  I  spent  some  days  in  London  and  visited  my 
old  friends  Mr.  William  E.  Forster  and  Mr.  Bryce^ — 
as  well  as  other  influential  men.  Lord  Granville  was 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  he  invited  me 
to  call  on  him  at  the  Foreign  Office,  as  he  wished  to 
talk  with  me  about  affairs  in  the  East.  I  found  him 
one  of  the  most  agreeable  of  men  and  well  informed 
in  regard  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  Turkey.  Th^ 
question  of  Egypt  was  then  approaching  the  crisis 
which  resulted  in  the  bombardment  of  Alexandria, 
the  outbreak  of  fanaticism  which  followed  and  the 
English  occupation  of  the  country.  He  had  a  keen 
appreciation  of  the  dangers  resulting  from  the  state 
of  excitement  in  Egypt  and  Syria,  connected  with 
the  revolutionary  movement  of  Arabi  Pasha,  and 
the  intrigues  of  the  Sultan,  who  sought  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  to  bring  about  a  panislamic  revival. 
He  told  me  that  he  wished  to  avoid  armed  inter- 
vention, especially  by  England  alone,  and  con- 
sidered it  impossible  for  England  to  occupy  Egypt 
for  any  length  of  time.    I  saw  no  one  in  London  who 

*  No  English  statesman  has  followed  events  in  the  nearer  East 
so  carefully  and  sympathetically  for  the  last  thirty  years  as  Mr. 
Bryce,  and  no  one  has  been  a  more  devoted  friend  of  Robert  College. 

168 


THE  COLLEGE  AT  THE  END  OF  TWENTY  YEARS 

did  not  share  his  opinions.  If  Arabi  Pasha  had 
yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  British  admiral  at 
Alexandria,  which  were  very  reasonable,  I  do  not 
believe  that  England  would  have  occupied  Egypt. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  the  general  opinion  of 
foreigners  living  in  Egypt  and  Syria  that  if  this 
movement  were  not  checked  in  some  way  it  would 
result  in  a  general  rising  of  the  Mohammedans  in 
Syria,  Arabia  and  northern  Africa  against  Chris- 
tian and  European  influence.  It  was  this  and  the 
importance  of  the  Suez  Canal  which  led  the  govern- 
ment of  Mr.  Gladstone  to  run  the  risk  of  presenting 
an  ultimatum  at  Alexandria,  and  the  obstinacy  of 
Arabi  Pasha  which  determined  the  measures  which 
followed. 

After  I  reached  Constantinople  General  Lew 
Wallace,  who  was  the  American  minister  here, 
told  me  that  at  the  request  of  the  Sultan  he 
had  telegraphed  to  Washington  a  request  for  our 
government  to  intervene  and  mediate  between 
England  and  Turkey,  to  which  our  government  had 
replied  that,  if  England  also  wished  it,  we  might 
do  so,  and  he  thought  that  it  was  the  knowledge  of 
this  which  decided  England  to  act  at  Alexandria  to 
forestall  any  such  proposition;  but  he  had  no  evi- 
dence of  this  beyond  the  coincidence  of  time. 

General  Wallace  was  a  special  favorite  of  the 
Sultan,  more  so  than  any  other  minister  or  am- 
bassador here,  and  after  his  return  to  America 
he  was  his  eulogist.  He  was  always  ready  to  take 
up  his  defense  and  say  a  good  word  for  him, 
but  I  do  not  know  that  he  ever  told  in  public  the 
story  of  one  tragic  incident  connected   with  this 

169 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

same  Egyptian  question.  There  was  a  time  when 
it  was  a  question  of  the  joint  occupation  of  Egypt  by 
England  and  Turkey,  and  Lord  Dufferin  was  doing 
his  best  to  persuade  the  Sultan  to  agree  to  this. 
France  and  Russia,  who  did  not  wish  to  see  Eng- 
land's occupation  legalized,  advised  against  it  and 
represented  that  the  plan  proposed  would  make 
England  dominant  there,  while  the  Turkish  forces 
would  be  a  mere  side  show.  The  Sultan  sent  for 
General  Wallace  to  ask  for  his  advice.  General 
Wallace  very  properly  told  him  that  this  was  an 
affair  in  which  the  United  States  minister  could  not 
possibly  take  any  part.  The  Sultan  told  him  that 
he  had  not  sent  for  the  United  States  minister  and 
did  not  wish  the  opinion  of  the  United  States 
government,  but  that  he  had  sent  for  his  personal 
friend  General  Wallace  and  wished  his  personal 
opinion.  After  vainly  endeavoring  to  evade  the 
question.  General  Wallace  said,  "If  you  really 
wish  to  know  what  I  would  do  if  I  were  in  your  place 
I  will  tell  you."  The  Sultan  insisted,  and  General 
Wallace  said:  "If  I  were  in  your  place  I  would  get 
my  troops  ready,  embark  them  and  go  with  them 
to  Egypt.  Once  there  no  one  can  question  your 
supremacy  and  you  have  the  game  in  your  own 
hands."  The  interpreter  had  hardly  finished  the 
translation  of  this  when  the  Sultan  gave  a  groan  and 
fell  forward  in  a  fainting  fit.  He  saw  the  point  of 
General  Wallace's  advice  and  knew  that  he  did 
not  dare  to  follow  it.  General  Wallace  was  hurried 
out  into  an  antechamber  and  left  in  suspense  as  to 
his  own  fate  for  a  couple  of  hours.  Finally  a 
chamberlain  came  with    the  Sultan's  regret   that 


170 


THE  COLLEGE  AT  THE  END  OF  TWENTY  YEARS 

he  had  an  ill  turn  and  could  not  continue  the 
conversation.  The  subject  was  never  alluded  to 
again.  General  Wallace  told  me  this  story  him- 
self. It  was  generally  believed  in  Europe  that 
England  did  not  desire  a  joint  occupation  of  Egypt 
and  that  Lord  Dufferin  was  really  "riding  for  a 
fall"  —  to  have  the  credit  of  wishing  a  joint  occu- 
pation, but  pressing  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure 
a  refusal,  and  he  got  great  credit  in  diplomatic 
circles  for  his  skill  in  playing  this  double  game. 
Just  before  he  left  Constantinople  he  assured  me 
confidentially  that  this  was  all  a  mistake  —  that 
in  fact  he  had  been  in  dead  earnest  and  that  his 
mission  here  had  been  a  failure. 

We  greatly  enjoyed  General  and  Mrs.  Wallace 
during  the  four  years  of  his  stay  here.  They  were 
warm  friends  of  the  College,  and  a  great  addition  to 
our  social  life.  The  most  curious  incident  of  his  life 
here  was  the  declaration  of  a  Presbyterian  minister 
in  Missouri  that  he  had  been  in  Constantinople  and 
had  seen  and  handled  in  the  library  of  the  Mosque 
of  St.  Sophia  the  original  manuscript  from  which 
General  Wallace  had  borrowed  his  story  of  "Ben 
Hur."  This  absurd  tale  gained  such  currency  in 
America  that  General  Wallace  obtained  the  Sultan's 
permission  for  Dr.  Riggs  and  me  to  investigate  the 
matter  in  the  library  itself.  I  happened  to  be  ill,  and 
Dr.  Long  went  in  my  place.  It  proved  that,  except 
two  European  princes,  no  foreigner  had  visited  this 
library  for  many  years,  and  it  goes  without  saying 
that  no  manuscript  having  any  relation  to  "Ben 
Hur"  existed  there.  The  most  remarkable  thing 
about  this  masterpiece  is  that  when  General  Wallace 

171 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

wrote  it  he  had  never  been  out  of  America,  and  yet 
the  book  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  East  and  of  the 
age  which  it  represents. 

We  had  another  interesting  experience  which 
grew  out  of  the  discovery  of  the  "Didache"  or 
*' Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles"  by  the  Greek 
Bishop  Bryennios  in  the  library  of  the  Jerusalem 
Monastery  at  Constantinople.  It  at  once  excited 
the  attention  of  the  Christian  world,  and  Dr.  Schaff 
of  Union  Theological  Seminary  wrote  to  me  asking 
me  to  see  if  I  could  get  a  photograph  of  the  manu- 
script. I  went  to  see  Bishop  Bryennios  and  met 
with  a  cordial  reception.  He  promised  me  all  that 
I  asked,  and  I  arranged  for  Dr.  Long  to  go  down  and 
take  the  photograph.  Dr.  Long  went,  but  found  the 
monks  in  charge  of  the  library  anything  but  cordial. 
After  much  delay  they  allowed  him  to  take  a  photo- 
graph of  what  they  declared  to  be  the  last  page  of 
the  *' Teaching."  When  he  got  home  and  printed 
the  photograph  he  found  that,  while  it  was  the  last 
page  of  the  manuscript,  it  did  not  contain  a  word 
of  the  "Teaching,"  which  was  not  the  last  docu- 
ment in  the  manuscript.  It  was  valuable  as  it  gave 
the  name  of  the  copyist  and  the  place  and  date  of 
the  writing  (1056),  but  it  was  not  the  "Teaching." 
A  few  weeks  later  Bishop  Bryennios  was  exiled  to 
Nicomedia  by  the  new  Patriarch. 

The  College  had  no  direct  interest  in  Egyptian 
affairs,  but  the  air  in  Constantinople  was  charged 
with  political  electricity,  and  this  naturally  influ- 
enced our  course  of  thought  during  the  year.  It 
was  the  situation  in  Bulgaria  and  Eastern  Roumelia 
which  chiefly  interested  us.    We  had  a  larger  num- 

172 


THE  COLLEGE  AT  THE  END  OF  TWENTY  YEARS 

ber  of   13ulgarian   students  than  ever   before,  })ut 
until  Prince  Alexander's  coup  d'etat  in  1883  tlie condi- 
tion of  things  there  seemed  more  hopeless  than  ever, 
and  then  this  revolt  of  the  prince  against  Russian 
dictation  gave  new  strength  to  the  party  in  Russia 
which  was  determined  to  make  his  rule  impossible. 
The  Russian  papers  attributed  this  anti-Russian 
feeling  in  Bulgaria  to  the  influence  of  Robert  Col- 
lege, and  one  of  them  declared  that  I  had  expended 
half  a  million  dollars  of  British  money  to  bring 
about  this  result.    It  was  no  doubt  true  that  the 
general  influence  of  Robert  College  was  a  factor  in 
leading  the  Bulgarians  to  resent  Russian  methods, 
but  there  were  Robert  College  graduates  and  stu- 
dents in  all  the  various  parties  in  Bulgaria.   I  do 
not  think  that  any  of  them  favored  the  absorption 
of  Bulgaria  into  the  Russian  Empire,  but  there 
were  those  who  felt  that  the  independence  of  all 
Bulgaria  could  be  secured  only  by  the  help  of  Rus- 
sia, and  that  it  was  necessary  to  conciliate  the  Czar 
at  any  cost,  even  by  the  sacrifice  of  Prince  Alex- 
ander, whom  he  hated.    As  to  money  influence,  I 
never  had  a  dollar  to  spend  in  Bulgaria  or  anywhere 
else  for  political  purposes;  and  I  happen  to  know 
that  the  British  government  failed  to  supply  its  own 
diplomatic  agency  at  Sofia  with  money  even  to  ob- 
tain information,  which  it  ought  to  have  had,  at  a 
critical  moment.    It  was  the  Russian  agents  them- 
selves whose  high-handed  abuse  of  power  changed 
the  universal  gratitude  of  the  Bulgarians  into  fear 
and  dislike. 

The  twentieth  and  twenty-first  years  of  Robert 
College  represent  a  period  when  it  had  reached  the 

173 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

greatest  development  possible  with  the  means  at  its 
disposition  and  under  the  conditions  in  which  it 
existed,  and  it  is  in  place  to  give  a  picture  of  what 
it  was  at  this  time. 

It  occupied  one  building  with  a  temporary  annex 
which  served  as  a  study  hall  and  room  for  the  Sun- 
day services  and  all  general  and  public  gatherings. 
Hamlin  Hall,  the  main  building,  was  occupied  by 
dormitories,  the  boarding  department,  a  hospital 
room,  library,  museum,  laboratory,  recitation 
rooms,  tutors'  rooms,  servants'  rooms,  offices  and 
the  apartments  of  the  president's  family  and  the 
matron.  Everything  about  this  building,  except  its 
solid  walls,  and  everything  about  the  annex,  their 
furniture  and  their  conveniences,  represented  en- 
forced economy  and  primitive  conditions.  We  had  no 
water  supply  except  what  we  caught  on  the  roof  and 
stored  in  a  cistern,  and  no  drainage,  except  into  a 
cesspool.  The  students  slept  in  dormitories,  fifteen 
to  twenty  in  a  room,  which  could  not  be  heated  or 
properly  ventilated.  We  had  not  been  able  to  build 
a  wall  around  our  grounds.  When  Hamlin  Hall 
was  built  it  was  the  finest  school  building  in  Turkey, 
and  it  certainly  occupied  the  finest  site  in  Turkey, 
if  not  in  the  world ;  but  the  founding  and  successful 
development  of  Robert  College  had  roused  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  various  nationalities  to  the  neces- 
sity and  the  power  of  education.  The  Sultan  had 
determined  to  do  for  the  Turks  what  he  believed 
that  Robert  College  had  done  for  the  Bulgarians; 
and  the  Bulgarians  so  fully  appreciated  the  im- 
portance of  education  that  they  had  already  begun 
to  establish  colleges  and  schools  of  all  grades  in 

174 


THE  COLLEGE  AT  THE  END  OF  TWENTY  YEARS 

Bulgaria  and  Eastern  Roumelia.  The  Greeks  and 
Armenians  in  Turkey  were  also  doing  what  they 
could.  Robert  College  found  itself  in  competition 
with  all  these  rival  institutions,  and  some  of  them 
were  far  better  equipped  than  it  was.  Our  defi- 
ciencies became  apparent  to  all,  although  it  cannot 
be  said  that  our  general  influence  had  diminished 
or  that  our  reputation  had  suffered.  It  would  have 
done  so  very  soon  if  we  had  not  shown  evidence  of 
progress. 

In  the  crowded  and  inadequate  quarters  which  I 
have  described  we  had,  the  twentieth  year,  243 
students  on  our  registers,  165  of  whom  were  board- 
ers: 110  Bulgarians,  83  Armenians,  26  Greeks,  11 
Turks,  13  others.  The  twenty-first  year  215  regis- 
tered, of  whom  142  were  boarders:  91  Bulgarians, 
82  Armenians,  29  Greeks,  5  Turks,  8  others. 

The  rising  bell  rang  at  6.30  o'clock.  Breakfast 
for  the  tutors  and  students  in  the  basement  dining- 
room  at  7,  and  prayers  at  the  commencement  of 
study  hours  at  8.20.  All  the  students  w^ere  re- 
quired to  be  present.  Then  came  classes  until 
12.30.  Lunch,  classes  again  from  2  until  4.30. 
Dinner  at  6  and  study  hours  in  the  evening  from 
7.30  until  9.  All  in  bed  at  10.  Wednesday  p.m. 
declamations  at  1.30  was  the  only  college  exercise. 
Saturday  afternoon  was  free.  Sunday  at  10.45  re- 
ligious services,  preaching  by  president.  Professor 
van  Millingen,  Dr.  Long  or  Professor  Grosvenor. 
Bible  classes  in  the  afternoon  after  a  general  meet- 
ing at  2.30  under  the  direction  of  the  president, 
occupying  an  hour  in  all.  Meeting  in  the  evening 
generally  under  the  direction  of  tutors.   All  board- 

175 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

ing  students  were  required  to  attend  all  of  these. 
During  the  recreation  hours  there  were  games, 
walks,  etc.,  when  the  weather  permitted.  The  stu- 
dents had  an  average  of  twenty-five  classes  a  week 
and  each  teacher  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  classes, 
besides  his  other  duties.  We  had  an  interesting 
museum,  a  library  of  about  five  thousand  volumes 
and  a  very  fair  supply  of  apparatus.  We  had  no 
doctor  within  six  miles  of  us  and  no  proper  hospital. 
Dr.  Long,  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  had  some  know- 
ledge of  the  care  of  the  sick  and  of  what  needed  to 
be  done  in  case  of  accidents;  and  no  small  amount 
of  work  of  this  kind  fell  upon  us,  which  brought  us 
into  the  most  intimate  and  friendly  relations  with 
the  students.  Mrs.  Washburn  knew  the  other  lan- 
guages and  had  learned  Bulgarian  that  she  might 
get  nearer  to  the  boys  when  they  were  ill.  I  am  not 
sure  that  we  did  any  more  profitable  work  than 
this.  We  had  a  number  of  small  boys  in  the  Pre- 
paratory Department  at  that  time  who  lived  in 
Hamlin  Hall,  occupying  two  dormitories  on  the 
same  story  with  the  president's  rooms,  who  needed 
special  care.  Miss  Farley  and  Mrs.  Washburn  gave 
a  good  deal  of  attention  to  them. 

The  most  important  characteristic  of  the  College 
was  that  the  professors  and  their  families  and  all 
the  teachers  who  lived  in  Hamlin  Hall  were  inspired 
with  the  idea  that  we  were  making  men  who  in  turn 
were  to  be  the  leaders  of  their  people  to  a  higher  life. 
Giving  instruction  in  various  branches  of  learning 
was  not  the  end  for  which  we  were  working,  but 
only  a  means  to  a  real  end  which  we  had  in  view. 
To  attain  this  end  was  the  one  thought  of  our  lives, 

176 


THE  COLLEGE  AT  THE  END  OF  TWENTY  YEARS 

and  no  one  counted  it  a  sacrifice  to  do  anything 
which  would  help  on  this  work.  We  did  not  doubt 
that  it  was  an  essential  part  of  it  to  discipline  the 
intellectual  powers  of  our  students,  to  teach  them 
to  think  for  themselves,  and  we  never  neglected  our 
classes.  That  we  were  reasonably  successful  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  the  universities  of  Europe 
recognized  our  diplomas,  and  that  many  of  our 
graduates  distinguished  themselves  in  their  profes- 
sional studies.  We  naturally  rejoiced  in  this,  but  it 
was  not  the  secret  of  our  success,  or  of  the  harmony 
and  enthusiasm  with  which  we  worked  together, 
or  of  our  intimate  relations  with  the  students,  who 
thoroughly  appreciated  the  fact  that  there  was 
nothing  perfunctory  about  our  work,  but  that  we 
were  doing  our  best  to  make  men  of  them  —  that 
we  were  living  for  them  and  not  for  ourselves;  that 
whatever  concerned  them  interested  us,  to  whatever 
race  or  nationality  they  might  belong. 

The  class  which  graduated  in  1883  numbered  10, 
of  whom  7  are  living  — 5  Bulgarians,  4  Armenians 
and  1  Greek.  Of  the  Bulgarians  Mr.  Voicoff  has 
been  ever  since  one  of  the  most  valued  instructors 
in  Robert  College.  Stoicoff  is  the  principal  naval 
officer  in  Bulgaria,  Dimitroff  is  a  banker,  Djam- 
bazoff  was  a  judge  and  Djabaroff  a  teacher.  Of  the 
Armenians  Djiladjian  is  a  chemist,  Tashdjian  was 
a  lawyer,  the  others  are  merchants.  The  Greek  was 
in  business. 

The  class  of  1884  numbered  22,  of  whom  19 
are  living.  14  were  Bulgarians,  7  Armenians,  1 
Greek.  Of  the  Bulgarians,  4  were  teachers,  4 
merchants,  2  connected  with  the  Ministry  of  War, 

177 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

2  physicians,  1  major  of  cavalry,  1  in  the  diplomatic 
service.  Of  the  Armenians  3  are  merchants,  1 
teacher,  1  dentist  in  New  York,  1  was  private  sec- 
retary and  1  in  publication  department  of  the 
American  Mission.  The  Greek  is  a  steamship 
agent. 

Many  of  those  who  were  students  in  the  College 
during  these  two  years  but  did  not  graduate  have 
held  honorable  positions  in  various  walks  of  life. 
One  of  them  is  now  Minister  of  Finance  in  Bulgaria. 

One  of  the  most  important  events  of  the  twenty- 
first  year  was  the  coming  of  Mr.  Louisos  Eliou, 
Ph.  D.,  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Athens,  to 
take  charge  of  the  Greek  Department  in  the  College. 
Up  to  this  time  we  had  never  been  able  to  do  for  the 
Greeks  what  we  were  doing  for  the  Armenians  and 
Bulgarians,  as  we  had  never  found  a  satisfactory 
teacher  to  build  it  up.  In  Mr.  Eliou  we  found  the 
right  man.  He  was  appointed  professor  later  on 
and  has  been  one  of  our  most  honored  colleagues 
ever  since,  honored  alike  by  us  and  by  the  Greek 
nation. 


178 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   GREAT   CRISIS   IN   BULGARIA.    1884-1886 

Professor  Panaretoff  was  absent  the  twenty- 
second  year  on  account  of  a  very  serious  illness, 
which  attacked  him  on  the  train  when  on  his  way 
to  Vienna  with  my  sister  and  son.  He  was  in  a 
hospital  in  Vienna  for  a  long  time  and  later  at 
Meran,  but  at  the  end  of  the  year  returned  in  good 
health.  Dr.  Long  was  absent  the  twenty-third 
year,  having  been  requested  by  the  trustees  to 
go  to  America  to  raise  money  for  the  College.  He 
was  a  distinguished  and  highly  honored  minister 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  had  a 
mission  in  Bulgaria,  of  which  he  had  been  the 
director  before  coming  to  the  College.  The  trus- 
tees thought  that  he  would  be  able  to  interest  the 
Methodists  as  well  as  others  in  the  College.  He 
was  in  every  way  a  most  attractive  man,  and  we  also 
had  faith  in  his  success.  It  was  a  critical  time  for 
the  College,  when  we  must  show  some  signs  of 
progress  or  lose  our  influence.  The  number  of  our 
Bulgarian  students  had  already  fallen  from  110  to 
71,  owing  to  the  opening  of  similar  institutions 
there.  The  whole  number  registered  of  all  nation- 
alities had  fallen  from  259  in  1881-1882  to  173  in 
1884-1885.  Unhappily  we  were  all  disappointed. 
He  was  well  received  everywhere  and  got  plenty 
of   sympathy,  but  no    money.    I    believe    that  no 

179 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Methodist  has  ever  given  any  money  to  Robert  Col- 
lege, although  the  bishops  of  the  church  have  been 
our  good  friends,  and  some  of  our  graduates  are 
Methodist  ministers. 

Miss  Farley,  the  matron,  was  absent  for  two  years 
in  America  on  account  of  ill  health. 

Professor  Ormiston  came  to  the  College  in  the 
summer  of  1885  to  take  Dr.  Long's  place  for  one 
year,  but  remained  as  instructor  and  later  as  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry,  Geology  and  Mineralogy. 

The  number  of  students  registered  the  twenty- 
second  year  was  173,  of  whom  115  were  boarders. 
Seventy-one  were  Bulgarians,  63  Armenians,  28 
Greeks,  2  Turks,  others  9. 

The  twenty-third  year  the  number  registered  was 
182,  of  whom  120  were  boarders.  Seventy-one 
were  Bulgarians,  64  Armenians,  37  Greeks,  no 
Turks,  10  others. 

The  absence  of  Turkish  students  then  and  in 
the  following  years  was  due  to  the  effort  of  the 
Sultan  to  prevent  Turkish  boys  attending  foreign 
schools  rather  than  those  which  he  had  himself 
provided  for  their  benefit,  not  to  any  special  hostil- 
ity to  Robert  College,  although  everything  English, 
even  the  English  language,  was  regarded  with  dis- 
favor at  this  time  on  account  of  the  occupation  of 
Egypt  by  England. 

In  the  summer  of  1885  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I 
spent  two  months  in  Eastern  Roumelia  and  Bul- 
garia. We  had  received  many  pressing  invitations 
to  make  this  visit  from  our  graduates  who  occupied 
important  official  positions  in  both  these  states,  and 
the  time  seemed  to  us  favorable,  as  there  was  no 

180 


THE  GREAT  CRISIS  IN  BULGARIA 

political  controversy  at  that  time  between  them  and 
the  Turkish  government.  We  had  long  desired  to 
visit  our  old  students  in  their  own  homes  and  to  see 
with  our  own  eyes  what  they  were  doing  for  their 
country,  and  what  progress  had  been  made  in  the 
country  itself. 

We  went  by  train  to  Philippopolis,  which  then 
took  two  days,  as  the  trains  did  not  run  in  the  night 
or  at  any  great  speed  in  the  day  time.  To  our 
great  surprise  we  were  met  at  the  station  by  the 
prefect  of  the  province,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  the 
Bishop  and  a  large  number  of  other  notables  and 
escorted  to  the  home  of  the  prefect,  our  graduate 
Mr.  Dimitroff,  w^here  we  were  entertained;  and 
later  on  we  found  that  we  were  the  guests  of  the 
state  as  well  as  of  the  people  and  were  received  and 
entertained  with  great  honor  everywhere.  It  be- 
came a  sort  of  triumphal  journey  through  the 
country,  in  honor  of  Robert  College.  The  details 
of  that  trip  are  not  in  place  here.  Mr.  Shipkoff  was 
w^ith  us  for  a  part  of  the  journey  and  Professor 
Panaretoff  for  the  rest.  From  Philippopolis  we 
made  an  excursion  into  the  Rhodope  Mountains 
with  Mr.  Dimitroff,  and  Mr.  Stoiloff  entertained  us 
at  Sofia.  We  traveled  in  a  phaeton  drawn  by 
three  horses  abreast,  and  accompanied  by  an 
honorary  guard.  In  some  places  we  had  to  travel 
on  horseback.  We  visited  the  most  beautiful  parts 
of  the  Rhodope  and  Balkan  Mountains,  crossed  the 
Shipka  pass  to  Tirnova,  the  ancient  capital,  spent 
some  time  in  Sofia,  the  present  capital,  and  some 
days  in  the  famous  Rilo  Monastery  in  the  moun- 
tains on  the  frontier  of  Macedonia,  finally  returning 

181 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  Philippopolis.  Aside  from  our  relations  with  the 
people  it  was  an  ideal  excursion,  unsurpassed  by 
any  other  in  our  experience;  but  after  all,  the  chief 
interest  of  it  was  in  the  reception  given  us  by  our 
former  students  and  the  people  generally,  in  their 
grateful  recognition  of  what  Robert  College  had 
done  for  them,  and  in  our  satisfaction  at  the  in- 
fluence of  our  students  in  the  country.  I  also  gained 
a  knowledge  of  the  real  situation  of  affairs  in  both 
provinces,  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  in  view, 
and  of  the  spirit  of  the  people,  which  enabled  me,  in 
the  trying  times  which  soon  followed,  to  be  of 
greater  service  to  them  than  I  had  ever  been  before. 
It  was  made  plain  to  me  that,  sooner  or  later,  an 
attempt  would  be  made  to  unite  Eastern  Roumelia 
and  Bulgaria;  but  I  was  no  less  astonished  than  the 
rest  of  the  world  when  the  revolution  broke  out  at 
Philippopolis,  September  18,  less  than  two  weeks 
after  our  return  to  Constantinople.  Meanwhile  I 
had  given  Mr.  Pears,^  the  distinguished  correspon- 
dent of  the  London  Daily  News,  a  long  interview  on 
the  situation  there;  and  his  letter,  embodying  this, 
with  my  name,  was  published  in  London  on  the 
day  when  the  telegraph  announced  the  outbreak  of 
the  revolution.   As  it  was  the  only  news  on  the 

*  Edwin  Pears,  Esq.,  was  not  only  the  correspondent  of  the 
London  Daily  News,  but  was  and  still  is  the  leading  English  lawyer 
in  Turkey.  He  is  also  the  author  of  two  of  the  most  valuable  his- 
torical works  on  Constantinople  —  The  Fall  of  Constantinople  and 
The  Destruction  of  the  Greek  Empire.  Through  a  long  period  of 
years  he  has  been  one  of  my  most  intimate  personal  friends  and  a 
devoted  friend  of  the  College,  to  whom  we  owe  a  great  debt  of 
gratitude. 

182 


THE  GREAT  CRISIS  IN  BULGARIA 

subject  it  was  reproduced  all  over  Europe,  and  it 
was  generally  believed  that  I  had  had  some  part  in 
the  plot.  This  was  absolutely  untrue.  I  know  of 
only  one  Robert  College  student  who  was  a  leader 
in  it,  and,  as  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  it  to  be 
kept  a  secret  from  the  prefect,  with  whom  I  was 
staying,  this  student  told  me  nothing  about  it.  It 
was  only  the  general  unrest  which  came  to  my 
knowledge,  w  ith  the  fact  that  Russia  w^as  interested 
in  some  such  plan  in  the  hope  that  it  would  lead  to 
the  overthrow  of  Prince  Alexander,  which  was  the 
chief  end  of  Russian  policy  at  that  time.  Prince 
Alexander  himself  had  some  knowledge  of  the  plot, 
but  before  it  came  to  a  head  he  did  what  he  could  to 
prevent  the  outbreak;  w^hile  the  Russian  consul  at 
Philippopolis  attended  the  meetings  of  the  conspira- 
tors, and  encouraged  them,  believing  that  Prince 
Alexander,  who  was  then  in  Varna,  was  not  in  a 
position  to  profit  by  it.  It  was  a  bloodless  revolu- 
tion; the  elaborate  but  artificial  government  of 
Eastern  Roumelia  went  to  pieces  and  disappeared 
without  a  struggle,  and  the  people  cried  out  for 
Prince  Alexander.  He  came,  knowing  very  well 
that  he  did  so  at  risk  of  his  throne  and  probably  of 
his  life.  There  is  nothing  more  pathetic  in  the 
history  of  Europe  and  nothing  more  diabolical  in 
the  history  of  Russia  than  the  story  of  the  events 
in  Bulgaria  which  followed  this  Philippopolis  re- 
volution. The  prince  was  sacrificed  by  Europe  to 
the  personal  hatred  of  the  Czar,  and  Bulgaria  be- 
came a  united  state,  in  spite  of  Russia.  The  Turks 
had  very  little  interest  in  the  matter  so  long  as  their 
people  in  Eastern  Roumelia  were  unmolested  and 

183 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Macedonia  was  not  invaded;  but  Russia  insisted 
on  an  immediate  invasion  of  the  country  by  the 
Turks  and  carried  most  of  the  Powers  with  her. 
Happily  England  was  then  represented  here  by  my 
old  friend  Sir  William  White,  who  was  not  afraid  to 
defy  the  world  in  a  good  cause,  and  who  had  the 
full  confidence  of  Lord  Salisbury.  He  alone  saved 
the  day  by  sheer  force  of  will,  and  the  Turks  did  not 
move.  The  Russians  also  attempted  to  destroy  the 
power  of  Prince  Alexander  by  suddenly  recalling 
all  the  Russian  officers  from  the  Bulgarian  army, 
which  had  up  to  that  time  been  kept  in  their  hands. 
The  Minister  of  War  and  all  officers  above  the  rank 
of  captain  were  Russians.  Then,  having  failed  to 
persuade  the  Turks  to  war,  they  encouraged  Servia 
to  attack  Bulgaria.  The  result  of  their  success  in 
this  was  the  utter  defeat  of  the  Servians,  making 
Prince  Alexander  a  hero  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
and  rousing  the  sympathy  of  Europe  for  the  Bul- 
garians; but  no  one  who  was  not  behind  the  scenes 
can  know  what  a  desperate  struggle  went  on  from 
day  to  day,  before  anything  was  settled.  In 
Constantinople  it  was  a  conflict  between  Sir  William 
White  and  the  representatives  of  all  the  other 
Great  Powers,  led  by  Mr.  Nelidoff,  the  Russian 
ambassador,  whose  object  was  to  restore  the 
status  quo  ante  in  Eastern  Roumelia  and  thus 
prevent  the  union.  The  conflict  here  finally  re- 
sulted in  a  compromise  by  which  Prince  Alexander 
was  appointed  Governor- General  of  Eastern  Rou- 
melia, which  was  a  personal  union,  but  which  im- 
plied a  separate  administration  under  the  old 
regime.   In   Eastern   Roumelia   it   was   a   conflict 

184 


PRINCE  ALEXANDER  OF   BULGARIA 


THE  GREAT  CRISIS  IN  BULGARIA 

between  Prince  Alexander  and  his  friends  under 
the  lead  of  Mr.  DimitrofF,  prefect  of  Philippopolis, 
with  the  agents  of  Russia  and  their  adherents,  in- 
eluding  the  consuls,  except  the  English;  and  in  this 
Prince  Alexander  won  the  day,  for  the  old  regime 
was  never  reestablished  and  the  union  was  per- 
fected. No  little  credit  is  due  to  the  Sultan  for  this 
result,  for,  while  he  kept  up  the  appearance  of 
following  Russia  in  the  exact  execution  of  the 
treaty  of  Berlin,  he  refused  to  become  so  far  her 
tool  as  to  use  force  to  prevent  the  union.  The 
diflBculties  were  unhappily  complicated  by  the 
action  of  Greece,  which  threatened  war  if  Eastern 
Roumelia  were  united  to  Bulgaria.  As  this  did  not 
suit  the  plans  of  Russia  she  joined  the  other  Powers 
in  keeping  Greece  quiet. 

The  troubles  of  Prince  Alexander  did  not  end 
with  the  defeat  of  the  Servians  and  his  appointment 
as  Governor-General  of  Eastern  Roumelia.  Russia 
was  as  determined  as  ever  to  destroy  him,  and  spared 
no  effort  to  stir  up  opposition  among  the  Bulgarians, 
and  even  organized  plots  to  kill  him.  The  Bulga- 
rians generally  were  devoted  to  him ;  but  there  were 
party  leaders  and  army  officers,  I  am  sorry  to  say 
some  graduates  of  Robert  College,  who  allowed 
themselves  to  become  the  tools  of  Russia,  some 
from  the  honest  conviction  that  Bulgaria  could  not 
afford  to  antagonize  Russia,  others  from  purely 
selfish  interests.  As  I  was  in  correspondence  with 
men  of  all  parties,  I  did  what  little  I  could  to  keep 
the  peace  between  them  and  strengthen  the  hands 
of  Prince  Alexander. 

Meanwhile  the  Gladstone   government   had  re- 

185 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

turned  to  power  in  England  and  Sir  Edward 
Thornton  replaced  Sir  William  White  at  Constanti- 
nople. It  w^as  a  sad  mistake  for  all  concerned, 
especially  for  Bulgaria.  Sir  Edward  was  a  first- 
class  ambassador  of  the  stamp  of  Sir  Henry  Elliott, 
and  the  Gladstone  government  even  more  in  sym- 
pathy with  Bulgaria  than  Lord  Salisbury;  but  Sir 
Edward  was  absolutely  ignorant  of  everything  con- 
nected with  the  political  situation  here,  and  Russia 
had  the  field  to  herself.  He  was  recalled  in  a  few 
months  and  Sir  William  White  sent  back,  but  not  in 
season  to  save  Prince  Alexander.  Lord  Rosebery 
was  responsible  for  this  mistake,  and  bitterly  re- 
gretted it  before  Sir  Edward  reached  Constantinople. 
Personally  I  found  Sir  Edward  a  most  intelligent 
and  agreeable  gentleman,  and  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances he  would  have  filled  the  post  with 
honor.  But  England  has  had  no  representative 
here  since  Lord  Stratford  who  can  be  compared 
with  Sir  William  White.  He  had  a  more  compre- 
hensive and  accurate  knowledge  of  everything  con- 
cerning the  Eastern  question  than  any  other  man 
living — and  a  better  knowledge  of  all  the  men  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal  here  and  in  Europe.  Like 
Lord  Stratford,  too,  he  had  unbounded  faith  in 
England  and  a  lofty  conception  of  her  mission  in  the 
world.  He  felt  that  when  he  spoke  it  was  England 
speaking,  and  he  made  those  who  heard  him  think 
so  too.  He  was  somewhat  rough  in  his  manners, 
like  the  typical  English  squire,  and  when  he  saw 
fit  to  be  angry  it  was  like  the  descent  of  a  cyclone 
with  plenty  of  thunder  and  lightning  in  his  vocabu- 
lary.  No  man  cared  to  experience  it  a  second  time. 

186 


THE  GREAT  CRISIS  IN  BULGARIA 

This  was  the  Ambassador.  Personally  he  was  a 
man  to  be  loved,  of  tender  heart  and  deep  religious 
feelings  —  a  friend  to  be  trusted  to  the  death.  He 
was  a  sincere  Roman  Catholic,  but  he  used  to  say- 
that  I  was  his  father  confessor,  which  meant  simply 
that  he  enjoyed  talking  with  me  frankly  about 
whatever  was  in  his  mind  or  heart,  whether  of  the 
political  situation  or  of  his  deepest  religious  feelings. 
He  always  did  most  of  the  talking,  and  I  have  never 
met  a  man  to  whom  it  was  more  profitable  or  more 
entertaining  to  listen. 

The  American  minister  here  at  that  time  was 
Hon.  S.  S.  Cox,  commonly  known  as  Sunset  Cox. 
He  and  Mrs.  Cox  were  genuine  Americans,  who 
were  more  interested  in  their  own  people  than  in 
the  foreign  society  of  Pera.  They  were  warm 
friends  of  the  College,  and  we  were  indebted  to 
them  for  many  pleasant  hours  of  social  intercourse. 
I  do  not  think  that  he  enjoyed  his  position  here, 
and  he  resigned  it  after  two  years;  but  he  found 
time  to  write  three  very  entertaining  books,  and  the 
*' Diversions  of  a  Diplomat"  show  that  he  appre- 
ciated the  humorous  side  of  life  here  if  he  did  not 
enjoy  the  tragic  side  of  it,  which  he  could  not  modify. 

There  was  nothing  special  in  the  inner  life  of  the 
College  during  these  two  years  which  needs  to  be 
mentioned.  They  were  years  of  very  hard  work  for 
all  of  us  —  of  peace,  harmony  and  progress  w  ithin 
the  College  —  of  considerable  anxiety  as  to  our 
financial  prospects,  and  of  deep  sympathy  with  the 
trials  of  our  students  in  the  political  situation  of 
their  nationalities.  It  was  a  wonder  to  us  that  they 
could  do  such  good  work  in  their  studies. 

187 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

The  graduating  class  in  1885  numbered  15,  of 
whom  14  are  living  (1907).  Nine  were  Bulgarians, 
4  Armenians,  1  Greek,  1  Hebrew.  Of  the  Bulga- 
rians 3  are  physicians,  2  merchants,  2  government 
ojBBcials,  1  lawyer,  1  professor  of  law  in  Sofia  Uni- 
versity. Of  the  Armenians  1  is  a  teacher,  1  a  manu- 
facturer, 1  is  dead,  1  went  to  America,  graduated  at 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  School  and  is  a  prac- 
tical farmer  in  the  interior,  making  his  farm  a  model 
for  others.  The  Hebrew  is  a  lawyer  in  Bulgaria,  the 
Greek  in  business. 

The  class  of  1886  numbered  20,  of  whom  16  are 
living.  Twelve  were  Bulgarians,  8  were  Armenians. 
Nine  of  the  Bulgarians  have  been  teachers  at  some 
time,  5  are  so  still,  2  army  officers,  1  is  a  judge,  1  a 
merchant,  3  government  officials.  Of  the  Armeni- 
ans 5  are  merchants,  1  Protestant  pastor,  2  died 
soon  after  graduating. 


188 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  OVERTHROW  OF   PRINCE  ALEXANDER.     1886-1888 

At  the  close  of  the  twenty-third  year  the  doctors 
sent  me  to  Carlsbad  for  the  cure  there.  When  I 
reached  Vienna  on  my  return  I  heard  from  the 
British  ambassador  what  was  known  of  the  kid- 
naping of  Prince  Alexander,  and  went  at  once  to 
Bucharest  to  Sir  William  White,  who  had  returned 
to  his  former  post  there,  after  leaving  Constanti- 
nople. Prince  Alexander  had  already  passed  on  his 
return  to  Bulgaria,  but  his  brother  who  had  been 
with  him  was  still  with  Sir  William.  From  them  I 
learned  details,  and  to  this  day  my  blood  boils  with 
indignation  whenever  I  recall  them.  For  the  Bul- 
garian oflficers  who  executed  the  will  of  the  Czar 
there  is  this  excuse.  They  had  been  educated  in 
Russia  —  they  were  young  and  had  grown  up  with 
no  experience  of  a  country  of  their  own,  towards 
whose  sovereign  they  had  any  feeling  of  loyalty. 
They  had  just  taken  part  in  a  revolution  and  evi- 
dently did  not  realize  the  infamous  character  of  their 
treason,  especially  as  they  acted  in  the  name  of  the 
Czar.  But  for  the  Czar,  the  cousin  of  Prince  Alex- 
ander, the  embodiment  of  the  divine  right  of  the 
sovereign,  there  is  no  excuse.  He  could  not  plead 
ignorance  of  the  nature  of  the  plot.  He  honored 
and  rewarded  his  agents.  He  made  no  apology  to 
the  civilized  world  and  pushed  it  to  the  bitter  end, 

189 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

by  making  the  peace  of  Europe  depend  upon  the 
Powers  uniting  to  drive  Prince  Alexander  out  of 
Bulgaria. 

It  was  a  military  plot  carefully  elaborated  and 
carried  out  by  oflBcers  who  had  fought  under  Prince 
Alexander  at  Slivnitza.  They  broke  into  the  palace, 
seized  him  in  the  night,  and  hurried  him  off  by  car- 
riage to  the  Danube,  where  a  steamer  was  waiting  to 
take  him  to  Russia.  He  was  treated  with  the  greatest 
indignity  on  the  way  and  finally  delivered  over  to 
Russian  officials,  who  in  turn  transported  him  in  the 
same  fashion  to  the  Austrian  frontier  town  of  Lem- 
berg.  Lemberg  did  not  love  Russia,  and  Prince 
Alexander  was  received  there  with  enthusiastic 
demonstrations  of  welcome,  after  his  five  days  of 
suffering  every  indignity,  to  learn  that  all  Bulgaria 
had  risen  against  the  traitors  and  demanded  his 
immediate  return.  He  went  back,  and  his  journey 
through  Austria,  Roumania,  and  especially  in  Bul- 
garia was  like  a  Roman  triumph ;  but  he  went  back 
to  learn  at  Sofia  that  the  enmity  of  the  Czar  was 
more  bitter  than  ever,  and  to  hear  from  the  capitals 
of  Europe,  even  from  England,  that  the  peace  of 
Europe  depended  upon  his  abdication.  He  re- 
mained there  only  a  few  days,  —  long  enough  to  re- 
store order  and  establish  a  regency  to  take  charge  of 
the  government, —  abdicated  and  left  the  country, 
with  great  difficulty  persuading  the  people  not  to 
prevent  his  departure  by  force.  So  far  as  Prince 
Alexander  was  concerned  the  Czar  had  won  the  day 
by  base  means  to  which  no  other  sovereign  in 
Europe  would  have  descended.  Even  Prince  Milan 
had  never  thought  of  such  barbarism ;  he  never 

190 


THE  OVERTHROW  OF  PRINCE  ALEXANDER 

paid  agents  to  assassinate  the  prince.  But  the  Czar 
had  forgotten  the  people  of  Bulgaria,  who  boldly 
defied  him  and  all  his  plots  to  the  day  of  his  death, 
secured  the  permanent  union  of  Bulgaria  and  East- 
ern Roumelia,  and  won  the  confidence  of  all  the  rest 
of  Europe,  and  to-day  Prince  Alexander  is  the  hero 
of  the  Bulgarians.  When  he  died  his  body  was 
brought  to  Sofia,  and  his  mausoleum  is  the  most 
sacred  place  in  the  city.  The  father  of  the  Czar, 
who  freed  Bulgaria,  is  equally  honored;  but  the 
name  of  Alexander  III  is,  as  far  as  possible,  for- 
gotten. Prince  Alexander  came  to  Bulgaria  a  young 
man  without  experience  and  no  doubt  made  many 
mistakes;  but  he  identified  himself  with  the  people 
over  whom  he  ruled,  made  every  sacrifice  for  them, 
lived  for  them.  He  w^as  a  man  of  high  character 
and  very  simple  tastes,  economical  of  the  people's 
money  and  perfectly  at  home  with  the  most  humble 
of  his  subjects.  As  a  ruler  he  developed  rapidly, 
and  had  made  great  progress  in  educating  the 
people  in  the  science  of  self-government  and  in 
adapting  the  administration  to  their  wants.  His 
chief  difficulties  came  from  the  constant  intrigues 
of  the  Czar  to  make  his  position  untenable.  Bul- 
garia does  w^ell  to  cherish  his  memory. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Stambouloff  came  to  the 
front  as  one  of  the  regents  appointed  by  Prince 
Alexander,  and  commenced  that  terrible  strugrsle 
With  Russia  for  the  independence  of  Bulgaria, 
which  lasted  to  the  day  when  he  was  murdered  in 
the  streets  of  Sofia,  after  he  had  seen  Prince  Fer- 
dinand firmly  seated  on  the  throne.  The  conflict 
began  as  soon  as  Prince  Alexander  had  left  the 

191 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

country,  when  General  Kaulbars  arrived  as  the 
representative  of  the  Czar  to  get  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  continued  on  the  part  of  Russia  until 
the  death  of  Alexander  III  by  such  means  as  are 
supposed  to  be  peculiar  to  anarchists,  rather  than 
to  emperors.  In  this  conflict  the  Turks  had  the 
good  sense  to  sympathize  with  the  Bulgarians 
rather  than  with  Russia,  and  were  supported  by  the 
Western  Powers,  especially  by  England. 

The  Bulgarians  sought  everywhere  to  find  a 
prince  who  would  accept  the  place  in  face  of  Russian 
opposition,  and  finally  chose  Prince  Ferdinand  of 
Coburg,  a  grandson  of  King  Louis  Philippe,  but  a 
resident  of  Austria.  He  was  a  young  man  about 
twenty-six  years  old,  of  whom  little  was  known,  by 
religion  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  supposed  to  be 
favorably  regarded  by  the  Austrian  government  — 
a  very  different  man  from  Prince  Alexander.  He 
had  the  courage  to  accept  the  place  and  to  hold  it, 
although  he  was  not  officially  recognized  by  any 
Power  until  after  the  death  of  Alexander  III. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  intense  political  excite- 
ment that  the  College  opened  in  September,  1886. 
There  was  a  general  expectation  of  a  European  war 
and  a  general  stagnation  of  business  in  Turkey  and 
Bulgaria.  In  addition  to  this  the  Turks  established 
a  very  strict  quarantine  against  Bulgaria,  partly  for 
political  reasons,  but  nominally  because  of  an  out- 
break of  cholera  on  the  Danube.  The  outlook  for 
students  was  not  promising,  but,  in  spite  of  all  ob- 
stacles, we  had  more  than  during  the  previous  year. 
The  character  of  our  Bulgarian  students  was  well 
illustrated  by  their  determination  to  reach  the  Col- 

192 


THE  OVERTHROW  OF  PRINCE  ALEXANDER 

lege.  One  party  of  twelve,  from  places  only  two  or 
three  days  from  Constantinople,  were  four  weeks 
making  the  journey ;  having  vainly  tried  two  routes 
and  spending  a  week  in  quarantine,  they  started 
anew  and  came  over  the  mountains  in  carriages. 

The  whole  number  of  students,  the  twenty-fourth 
year,  was  182,  of  whom  130  were  boarders.  Seventy 
were  Bulgarians,  53  Armenians,  36  Greeks;  English 
and  Americans  15,  others  8.  The  first  death  in  the 
College  since  my  connection  with  it  occurred  this 
year  —  a  most  promising  Bulgarian  boy,  who  died 
in  my  arms  after  a  painful  illness  of  two  weeks. 

Professor  van  Millingen  was  absent  during  the 
year  on  leave  in  America,  w  ithout  salary.  The  Board 
of  Instruction  for  the  year  consisted  of  the  president, 
four  professors  and  eleven  other  instructors  —  and 
too  much  cannot  be  said  of  their  absolute  devotion 
to  the  work  of  the  College  and  the  highest  interests 
of  the  students.  Much  time  was  given  during  the 
year  to  a  thorough  revision  of  our  course  of  study,  to 
meet,  as  far  as  our  means  allowed,  the  increasing 
demands  of  our  patrons.  One  year  was  added  to 
the  Preparatory  Department  and  the  requirements 
for  admission  to  the  college  classes  correspondingly 
raised.  The  necessity  of  at  least  one  new  building 
had  become  so  pressing  that  we  began  to  take  steps 
for  its  erection,  hoping  that  the  money  might  be 
found  when  we  had  obtained  the  necessary  permis- 
sion from  the  Turkish  government,  the  circumlocu- 
tion offices  of  the  Porte  requiring  from  one  to  two 
years,  under  constant  pressure  from  the  American 
Legation,  to  bring  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the 
Sultan  and  secure  his  action.   We  have  never  failed 

193 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  get  permission  for  any  building  that  we  have 
asked  for  and  have  never  had  our  work  stopped, 
although  in  this  and  most  cases  the  oflBcial  trade  has 
not  been  received  until  after  the  building  had  been 
completed  —  which  is  a  good  proof  of  the  friendly 
spirit  of  the  Turkish  oflScials.  My  personal  relations 
with  them  have  always  been  friendly. 

I  have  rather  a  vague  recollection  of  the  Com- 
mencement exercises  of  twenty  years  ago  and  few 
records  of  anything  except  my  baccalaureate  ser- 
mon and  the  order  of  exercises  for  the  day ;  but  I 
have  no  trouble  in  recalling  that  of  1887,  and  what 
has  fixed  it  in  my  mind  was  the  closing  prayer  at  the 
Commencement.  It  happened  that  Rev.  Dr.  Ar- 
thur Brooks  of  New  York  was  one  of  the  guests  on 
that  occasion.  As  he  was  an  Episcopal  clergyman 
accustomed  to  a  formal  service  I  hesitated  about 
asking  him  to  make  an  extemporaneous  prayer,  but 
he  accepted  the  invitation  at  once,  and  such  a  prayer 
I  have  seldom  heard.  It  w^as  that  of  a  man  who 
lived  in  constant  and  intimate  communion  with  God, 
and  it  brought  us  into  His  immediate  presence  in  a 
way  which  I  can  never  forget.  The  presiding  ofiicer 
that  day  was  Mr.  Oscar  S.  Straus,  the  American  min- 
ister, who  made  an  admirable  address,  and  there 
were  twelve  orations  in  five  different  languages  by 
the  graduating  class.  An  Armenian  bishop  made 
a  most  sympathetic  and  interesting  address. 

Immediately  after  the  Commencement  in  June  I 
went  to  America  partly  on  private  business  neces- 
sitated by  the  death  of  my  sister  and  partly  to  see 
the  trustees  in  regard  to  the  erection  of  a  new  build- 
ing.   Mrs.   Washburn  had  gone   to  America  two 

194 


THE  OVERTHROW  OF  PRINCE  ALEXANDER 

months  before.  The  trustees  approved  of  going  on 
with  preparations  for  a  new  building,  but  with  the 
understanding  that  I  should  come  to  America  in 
1889  to  raise  money  for  it.  We  waited  in  America 
for  the  marriage  of  my  son,  and  after  visiting  friends 
in  England  reached  Constantinople  early  in  Novem- 
ber, to  find  the  College  going  on  as  usual,  but  with  a 
fallins:  off  in  the  number  of  boarders. 

The  whole  number  the  twenty-fifth  year  was  170, 
of  whom  113  were  boarders.  Sixty  were  Bulgarians, 
55  Armenians,  33  Greeks,  19  English  and  Ameri- 
cans, 3  others. 

Looking  back  upon  it  now,  it  would  seem  that  the 
most  important  event  of  the  year  was  the  visit  to  the 
College  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  S.  Kennedy  of  New 
York  in  May,  1888.  It  was  the  beginning  of  an 
interest  in  the  College  on  their  part  which  has  gone 
on  deepening  ever  since,  and  been  of  incalculable 
value  to  us,  and  which  is  one  of  many  illustrations  of 
the  way  in  which  God  has  raised  up  friends  for  the 
College,  when  we  most  needed  them,  without  any 
plan  or  forethought  of  ours.  Such  experiences  as 
these  have  done  more  than  anything  else  to  sustain 
my  faith  in  the  College  as  really  God's  work  and 
not  ours.  I  believe  that  its  success  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  from  its  foundation  we  have  sought  to  make  it 
first  of  all  a  Christian  college.  It  is  as  such  that  God 
has  blessed  it.  Our  political  influence  has  inciden- 
tally been  very  great.  We  have  done  our  best  to  give 
our  students  a  thorough  and  practical  secular  edu- 
cation, but  I  believe  that  the  people  of  the  East,  of 
all  religions,  rate  the  moral  and  religious  influence 
of  the  College  as  its  most  important  work.   In  our 

195 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

summer  in  Bulgaria,  I  was  struck  with  the  fact  that 
in  all  the  addresses  presented  to  me,  the  first  thing 
spoken  of  was  the  religious  influence  of  the  College, 
and  I  believe  that  the  same  feeling  exists  among  the 
Greeks  and  Armenians  —  to  some  extent  at  least 
among  the  Turks.  They  sometimes  say,  "  Of  course 
my  son  will  not  cease  to  be  a  Mohammedan,  but  I 
want  him  brought  up  with  English  morality," 

Our  most  trying  experience  was  in  the  spring  of 
1888,  when  Mrs.  Washburn  and  Professor  Pana- 
retoff  came  down  with  scarlet  fever  at  the  same 
time,  taken,  in  an  act  of  charity,  from  a  poor  boy 
whom  they  brought  across  the  Bosphorus  in  a  caique 
with  them.  Miss  Farley,  who  was  also  in  the  boat, 
had  had  the  scarlet  fever  before  and  was  immune. 
In  our  crowded  quarters  there  was  nothing  to  be 
done  but  to  cut  off  our  apartment  from  the  rest  of 
the  building,  absolutely  except  for  a  dumb  waiter 
which  connected  our  dining-room  with  the  kitchen, 
Mrs.  Washburn  in  one  room  and  Professor  Pana- 
retoff  in  another.  From  the  9th  of  April  to  the  13th 
of  May  I  took  the  whole  care  of  both  of  them,  night 
^nd  day,  no  other  person  but  the  doctor  ever  enter- 
ing our  apartment.  Mrs.  Washburn  was  very  dan- 
gerously ill,  but  happily  Professor  Panaretofl's  case 
was  a  mild  one.  In  the  end  the  whole  apartment 
was  thoroughly  disinfected,  and  there  has  never  been 
a  case  of  scarlet  fever  in  the  College  since.  The 
College  work  went  on  as  usual,  under  the  direction 
of  Dr.  Long. 

The  last  visitor  whom  I  saw  before  going  into 
quarantine  was  Mr.  Walter,  the  proprietor  of  The 
London    Times,   whom   I    had   met   in   England, 

196 


THE  OVERTHROW  OF  PRINCE  ALEXANDER 

when  visiting  at  Newstead  Abbey.  I  was  sorry  not 
to  see  more  of  him  here,  for  the  editors  of  The 
Times  had  long  been  among  my  good  friends  in 
England,  and  tliey  were  friends  worth  having. 

Before  the  college  year  ended  we  were  saddened 
by  another  death  among  our  students,  a  German 
from  Roumania,  who  died  after  a  long  illness  of 
tyj)hoid  fever.  It  was  a  strange  case.  For  several 
weeks  until  a  few  days  before  he  died  he  would  have 
gone  to  his  classes  if  the  thermometer  had  not 
shown  that  he  had  the  typhoid  fever  and  was  grow- 
ing steadily  worse.  He  was  the  only  child  of  a 
widow,  and  his  mother,  who  had  been  ill  herself, 
arrived  here  only  just  before  his  death. 

As  this  was  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  the  College  it 
seemed  to  us  appropriate  to  inaugurate  the  annual 
celebration  of  Founder's  Day,  w^hich  we  fixed  for 
the  23d  of  March,  Mr.  Robert's  birthday.  It  was 
made  a  holiday  in  the  College,  with  a  religious  ser- 
vice at  nine  in  the  morning  and  a  thanksgiving  din- 
ner for  the  students  in  the  evening.  It  was  not  de- 
signed so  much  to  glorify  Mr.  Robert  as  to  have  an 
appropriate  occasion  to  make  our  students  under- 
stand the  object  for  which  the  College  was  founded, 
the  motives  of  the  founders  and  the  principles  which 
we  were  trying  to  act  upon  —  our  ideal  of  a  Chris- 
tian college.  This  day  has  been  observed  each  year 
ever  since  and  has  served  to  keep  fresh  the  memory 
of  ]\Ir.  Robert,  Dr.  Hamlin,  Dr.  Long  and  others  to 
whom  our  students  are  indebted  for  the  privileges 
which  they  enjoy. 

The  class  which  graduated  in  1887  numbered  26, 
of  whom  23  are  living  (1907).   Thirteen  were  Bul- 

197 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

garians,  10  Armenians  and  3  Greeks.  Of  the  Bul- 
garians 4  are  government  oflScials,  3  teachers,  3 
physicians,  2  merchants,  1  a  lawyer.  Of  the  Armeni- 
ans 7  are  merchants,  1  a  physician,  1  a  publisher,  1 
a  civil  engineer.  Of  the  Greeks  1  studied  medicine, 
1  is  a  dentist  and  1  a  merchant. 

The  class  which  graduated  in  1888  numbered  28, 
of  whom  24  are  living.  Fifteen  were  Bulgarians,  12 
Armenians,  1  Greek.  Of  the  Bulgarians  3  are  phy- 
sicians, 3  teachers,  2  judges,  2  merchants,  1  a  lawyer, 
1  a  government  official,  1  a  civil  engineer,  1  died  soon 
after  graduation,  1  unknown.  Of  the  Armenians  6 
are  merchants,  2  teachers,  2  government  officials,  1  a 
civil  engineer,  1  an  agriculturist.  The  Greek,  who  is 
now  in  the  office  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  was 
sent  to  the  Chicago  Exposition  in  an  official  capacity 
in  1893  by  the  Turkish  government. 

The  American  minister,  Mr.  Oscar  S.  Straus,  pre- 
sided at  the  Commencement  exercises  in  the  old 
study  hall  on  both  these  occasions.  He  was  then 
and  has  been  ever  since  a  warm  friend  of  the  Col- 
lege. 


198 


CHAPTER  XVII 

ARMENIAN    AND    BULGARIAN   TROUBLES.     1888-1890 

In  the  summer  of  1888  the  doctors  sent  me  to 
Carlsbad  again,  and  Mrs.  Washburn  went  with  me 
to  recruit  after  the  sickness  and  work  of  the  previous 
year.  We  had  a  delightful  summer,  meeting  many 
friends,  and  stopping  at  Sofia  on  our  way  home, 
where  we  had  an  enthusiastic  reception.  We  came 
back  early  in  September  to  arrange  our  apartment 
for  a  new  order  of  things  before  the  term  opened. 

During  the  previous  year  the  Faculty  had  passed 
the  following  resolution:  ''Resolved,  That  wuth  a 
view  of  relieving  the  president  of  all  duties  not 
properly  connected  with  his  office,  the  trustees  of  the 
College  be  requested  to  send  out  a  man  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  next  college  year,  if  a  proper  person  can 
be  found,  who  shall  live  in  the  college  building 
with  his  family,  take  charge  of  the  boarding  de- 
partment and  students'  accounts,  have  a  general 
supervision  of  the  boarders  out  of  study  hours  and 
aid  in  their  physical  and  moral  training."  A  full 
consideration  of  the  subject  satisfied  the  trustees 
that  no  one  could  take  my  place  in  Hamlin  Hall  who 
had  not  the  rank  and  w^ork  of  a  professor,  and  after 
due  deliberation  they  appointed  Rev.  Charles  An- 
derson Professor  of  Ethics,  Rhetoric,  Oratory  and 
Physical  Culture,  w^ith  the  understanding  that  he 
should  live  in  the  College  building  and  relieve  me 

199 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

of  the  duties  mentioned  in  the  resolution.  Mr. 
Anderson  had  been  a  tutor  in  the  College  for  three 
years  from  1869  to  1872,  after  which  he  graduated 
at  Andover  Theological  Seminary  and  was  at  this 
time  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  Woburn,  Mass.  His 
wife  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Hamlin.  For  a  year  we 
all  lived  together  in  Hamlin  Hall  until  I  went  to 
America  in  the  summer  of  1889.  I  was  very  glad  to 
welcome  him  as  a  colleague;  but  Mrs.  Washburn 
and  I  have  never  ceased  to  regret  that,  with  in- 
creasing years,  our  strength  had  so  far  failed  that 
we  had  to  give  up  this  common  life  with  the  tutors 
and  students  in  Hamlin  Hall.  When  we  returned 
from  America  we  lived  in  Kennedy  Lodge,  the 
president's  house  on  the  college  grounds,  and  so 
long  as  Professor  Anderson  lived  in  Hamlin  Hall 
the  College  suffered  no  loss. 

The  number  of  students  this  year  was  somewhat 
less,  owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of  affairs  in  Turkey 
and  Bulgaria.  The  number  registered  was  158,  of 
whom  104  were  boarders.  There  were  52  Bulga- 
rians, 43  Armenians,  33  Greeks,  20  English,  5 
Americans,  3  Turks,  7  others. 

The  condition  of  the  Armenians  had  grown 
steadily  worse  since  the  Berlin  Congress,  especially 
in  the  interior.  The  policy  of  England  was  largely 
responsible  for  this.  She  had  undertaken  to  defend 
their  rights  and  secure  reforms  in  the  Turkish  ad- 
ministration and  had  encouraged  them  to  look  for- 
ward to  the  establishment  of  an  autonomous  prov- 
ince of  Armenia,  partly  out  of  sympathy  for  this 
Christian  race  and  still  more  in  her  own  interest,  as 
she  believed  that  an  autonomous  Armenia  would  be 

200 


ARMENIAN  AND  BULGARIAN  TROUBLES 

a  barrier  against  the  farther  advance  of  Russia,    It 
was  not  an  anti-Turkish  policy, for  England  had  no 
desire  to  acquire  any  of  her  Asiatic  territory,  and 
believed   that  the  Turkish  government  would  be 
strengthened  by  such  changes.    She  utterly  failed  to 
convince  the  Sultan  of  this,  and  could  not  induce 
him  to  do  anything  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of 
his  Christian  subjects.    Unhappily  a  certain  num- 
ber of  Armenians  conceived  the  idea  that  it  would 
be  possible  to  force  the  hand  of  England  in  the  same 
way  that  the  Russian  government  had  been  forced 
by  popular  excitement  over  the  massacre  of  the 
Bulgarians  to  declare  war  against  Turkey;  and  they 
organized   secret   revolutionary   societies   with   the 
object  of  bringing  about  a  crisis,  which  would  re- 
sult in  such  atrocities  on  the  part  of  the  Turks  as 
had  taken  place  in  Bulgaria,  but,  as  they  believed, 
would  force  England  and  Europe  generally  to  in- 
tervene in  their  behalf,  and  create  an  independent 
Armenia.  I  did  not  personally  know  any  of  these 
revolutionists,  but  I  used  whatever  influence  I  had 
with  the  Armenians  whom  I  knew  to  make  them  see 
that  they  had  everything  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain 
by  such  movements  —  that  there  was  no  similarity 
between  the  situation  of  the  Armenians  and  the  Bul- 
garians, and  no  hope  of  any  European  intervention 
to  make  them  independent.    So  far  as  I  know  they 
got  the  same  advice  from  all    the  embassies  here, 
and  the  sober  minded  among  them  saw  the  truth  of 
it;  but  the  revolutionists  would  listen  to  no  one. 
What  would  have  happened  if  these  societies  had 
not  been  formed  I  do  not  know,  but  their  activities 
have  been  the  excuse  put  forward  by  the  Turks  for 

201 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

all  the  massacres  and  persecutions  of  the  last  twenty- 
five  years.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  these 
later  on.  In  1888-1889  the  most  serious  troubles 
were  in  Armenia,  where  the  Kurds  were  encouraged 
to  harry  the  Armenian  population  without  mercy. 
England  succeeded  at  this  time  in  getting  one  of  the 
principal  Kurdish  chiefs,  Moussa  Bey,  brought  to 
Constantinople  for  trial.  The  atrocities  which  he 
had  committed  were  innumerable  and  unspeakable ; 
incidentally  he  had  very  nearly  killed  an  American 
missionary,  but  his  trial  was  a  farce  and  changed 
nothing  in  Armenia.  Here  and  throughout  the 
country  the  hostility  of  the  government,  the  im- 
prisonment of  great  numbers  on  suspicion,  and  the 
agitation  of  the  revolutionists  excited  a  feeling  of 
terror  and  general  unrest.  The  number  of  our 
Armenian  students  was  reduced  more  than  fifty  per 
cent. 

It  was  not  the  fault  of  the  Turks  that  the  same 
state  of  things  existed  in  Bulgaria,  and  made  the 
position  of  Prince  Ferdinand  precarious.  All  the 
Bulgarian  troubles  came  from  Russia.  As  the  Rus- 
sian governors  left  in  Bulgaria  after  the  war  had 
told  them,  "It  was  not  for  the  beautiful  eyes  of  the 
Bulgarians  that  Russia  had  sacrificed  so  many  lives 
and  so  much  treasure,  but  it  was  to  build  a  bridge 
to  Constantinople."  Prince  Alexander  had  been 
removed,  but  now  Prince  Ferdinand  and  Mr.  Stam- 
bouloff  blocked  the  way,  supported  by  the  great 
majority  of  the  Bulgarian  people.  It  was  war  to  the 
knife  against  them.  Murder  and  treason  were  pat- 
ronized and  paid  for  by  Russia,  and  it  was  pitiful  to 
see  how  some  really  honest  and  patriotic  men  were 

202 


ARMENIAN  AND  BULGARIAN  TROUBLES 

deceived  and  won  over  to  the  belief  that  it  was  neces- 
sary for  Bulgaria  to  sacrifice  everything  to  please 
the  Czar.  Some  of  them  were  graduates  of  Robert 
College,  although  in  general  our  alumni  were  loyal 
to  Bulgaria  rather  than  to  the  Czar.  At  Constanti- 
nople Sir  William  White  was  the  principal  support 
of  Bulgaria.  All  these  foreign  intrigues  and  the  un- 
certainty of  the  future  greatly  delayed  the  develop- 
ment of  the  country  and  led  to  an  excessive  expendi- 
ture of  money  and  men,  in  keeping  up  a  large  and 
efficient  army.  It  was  this  generally  unsatisfactory 
state  of  things  which  so  greatly  reduced  the  number 
of  Bulgarian  students. 

The  work  of  the  College  went  on  satisfactorily 
during  the  year,  and  Mr.  Straus  secured  permission 
for  the  erection  of  a  new  building  for  the  College  and 
a  house  for  the  president.  But  w^hen  the  papers 
finally  came  from  the  Porte  there  was  no  mention  of 
the  college  building  in  them.  Somebody  in  the  office 
of  the  Grand  Vizier  had  been  paid  by  some  enemy 
of  the  College  to  omit  it.  We  had  already  com- 
menced work  on  the  building  on  plans  prepared  by 
Professor  Hamlin  of  Columbia  University,  and 
some  months  of  anxiety  followed,  although  we  did 
not  stop  the  work.  Happily  the  Grand  Vizier  was 
friendly.  He  acknowledged  that  the  fraud  had 
taken  place  in  his  department,  although  he  declared 
that  he  could  not  find  out  who  was  responsible  for  it, 
and  in  the  end  he  secured  for  us  the  necessary  irade 
from  the  Sultan. 

In  the  autumn  of  1888  we  had  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing the  United  States  flag  once  more  on  the  Bos- 
phorus.     The   Quinnebaug   came  up  here  again, 

203 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

but  no  American  war  vessel  has  appeared  here  since, 
although  all  the  Great  Powers  of  Europe  have  two 
each  stationed  here.  It  is  due  chiefly  to  the  oppo- 
sition of  Russia  and  Germany  that  this  right  has 
been  denied  us.  We  enjoyed  our  acquaintance  with 
the  officers,  and  they  challenged  our  students  to  a 
game  of  baseball,  in  which  I  am  sorry  to  say  our 
boys  were  beaten,  the  game  having  been  played 
under  stricter  rules  than  they  were  familiar  with. 
However,  it  did  our  boys  good. 

In  the  summer  of  1889,  as  had  been  agreed  with 
the  trustees,  I  went  to  America  to  raise  money  for 
the  new  building.  I  returned  in  May,  1890,  at  the 
earnest  request  of  Dr.  Long,  and  remained  here 
until  after  the  Commencement,  when  I  went  back  to 
finish  my  work,  which  occupied  me  until  the  sum- 
mer of  1891.  During  my  absence  Dr.  Long  was 
acting  president  of  the  College. 

The  twenty-seventh  year  of  the  College  opened  in 
September,  1889,  with  about  the  same  number  of 
students  as  the  previous  year,  164  in  all,  of  whom 
104  were  boarders.  Forty-five  were  Bulgarians,  47 
Armenians,  41  Greeks,  20  English  and  Americans, 
11  others. 

At  the  close  of  this  year  Professor  Grosvenor  re- 
signed his  place  as  professor  here  and  returned  to 
America,  where  he  has  ever  since  been  a  professor 
in  Amherst  College,  his  and  my  Alma  Mater.  First 
as  tutor  and  then  as  professor  he  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  College  for  twenty-one  years  —  a 
progressive  scholar,  a  devoted,  enthusiastic  co- 
worker in  all  the  activities  of  the  College,  and  a  suc- 
cessful teacher,  with  a  charming  family,  he  had 

204 


ARMENIAN  AND  BULGARIAN  TROUBLES 

filled  a  large  place  in  the  life  of  the  College.  In  his 
well-known  book  on  Constantinople  he  has  associ- 
ated his  name  with  the  place. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  Professor  Ormiston 
published  an  arithmetic  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the 
various  nationalities  in  the  College.  It  has  not  met 
with  the  same  fate  as  the  geography  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  which  we  published  some  years  earlier. 
The  geography  of  the  empire  changed  so  rapidly  in 
the  following  years  that  the  book  became  a  political 
curiosity. 

The  letters  which  I  received  in  America  this  year 
from  the  professors  were  not  altogether  optimistic, 
but  had  a  good  deal  of  criticism  of  the  state  of  things 
in  the  College.  Some  of  them  thought  that  I  ought 
to  return  at  once,  and  others  that  I  ought  to  stay  in 
America  until  I  had  raised  money  enough  to  put  the 
College  upon  a  better  foundation.  Various  schemes 
were  proposed  for  improvements,  which  would 
broaden  our  curriculum  and  raise  the  standard  of 
scholarship.  Except  as  they  showed  some  lack  of 
harmony  in  the  Faculty,  I  was  neither  surprised  nor 
discouraged  by  these  criticisms.  I  knew  very  well 
that  we  were  not  realizing  our  own  ideal  or  meeting 
the  demands  of  some  of  our  patrons,  and  it  was  en- 
couraging to  know  that  the  professors  and  teachers 
were  not  satisfied  with  their  work.  If  they  could  not 
coin  money,  they  could  at  least  do  their  very  best 
with  what  they  had.  I  do  not  think  that  we  had  as 
promising  material  in  the  College  at  that  time  as  in 
previous  years,  and  this  taken  together  with  the 
serious  falling  off  in  the  number  of  our  students  was 
discouraging,  whatever  might  be  the  reason  of  it, 

205 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

whether  it  was  due  to  our  deficiencies  or  to  circum- 
stances altogether  beyond  our  control.    I  am  con- 
vinced that  long-continued  political   agitation,  es- 
pecially when  it  is  revolutionary  in  its  character,  is 
unfavorable  to  sound  education.    I  believe  that  this 
is  true  everywhere.   It  is  certainly  true  in  my  ex- 
perience.   We  have  a  striking  illustration  of  it  to-day 
in  Russia,  and  I  have  seen  plenty  of  it  in  Turkey  and 
the  neighboring  states.   Boys  and  young  men  are 
the  first  to  be  demoralized  in  such  movements.    We 
have  done  our  best  always  to  keep  the  College  free 
from  such  influences,  but  at  the  time  of  which  I  am 
writing,  boys  came  to  us  whose  minds  were  already 
distracted  by  what  was  going  on  in  the  political 
world,  and  it  was  hard  to  make  them  see  that  the 
best  thing  they  could  do  for  their  nation  was  to  en- 
lighten and  discipline  their  own  minds  and  fit  them- 
selves by  study  to  become  intelligent  and  worthy 
citizens.    In  the  early  history  of  the  College  many  of 
our  students,  especially  the  Bulgarians,  came  to  us 
with  exactly  this  conception  of  their  duty ;  but  this 
sort  of  patriotism  is  no  longer  common,  although  we 
have  never  relaxed  our  efforts  to  develop  it. 

All  the  nationalities  were  abnormally  excited,  the 
Greeks  quite  as  much  as  the  Armenians  and  Bulgari- 
ans. By  way  of  a  demonstration  against  the  Turkish 
government  and  the  Bulgarians,  the  Greek  Patriarch 
had  closed  all  the  Orthodox  churches  and  suspended 
religious  services.  It  was  a  crisis  over  the  question 
of  Macedonia,  where  the  Turks  sometimes  favored 
the  Greeks  and  sometimes  the  Bulgarians  —  nomi- 
nally a  church  question,  but  in  fact  purely  political, 
as  it  continues  to  be  to  this  day.   That  these  warring 

206 


ARMENIAN  AND  BULGARIAN  TROUBLES 

nationalities  can  meet  on  equal  terms  in  Ro})ert 
College  and  live  together  in  peace,  as  in  general  they 
do,  is  itself  an  important  part  of  their  education. 

The  graduating  class  in  1890  numbered  11,  of 
whom  10  are  now  living.  Three  were  Bulgarians, 
3  Armenians,  4  Greeks  and  1  English.  Of  the 
Bulgarians  1  is  a  merchant,  1  a  lawyer  and  1  a  phy- 
sician. Of  the  Armenians  2  are  merchants,  1  a 
Protestant  minister.  Of  the  Greeks  1  became  an 
editor,  1  a  physician,  2  are  in  business. 

The  class  of  1891  numbered  8.  Four  were  Ar- 
menians, 3  Bulgarians,  1  Greek.  Of  the  Armenians 
1  is  a  teacher,  1  a  dentist,  2  merchants.  Of  the  Bul- 
garians 1  is  an  army  officer,  1  a  teacher,  1  in  dip- 
lomatic service.    The  Greek  is  a  merchant. 

From  this  time  on  the  Bulgarians  no  longer  con- 
stitute the  majority  in  our  graduating  classes. 

I  suppose  that  before  this  those  who  read  this 
book  have  been  impressed  with  the  small  number  of 
our  graduates  who  have  become  clergymen.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  but  few  of  our  gradu- 
ates are  Protestants.  They  belong  to  the  Oriental 
churches,  and  although  serious  efforts  have  been 
made  to  educate  the  clergy  in  these  churches,  this  is 
not  yet  a  career  which  is  attractive  to  an  educated 
young  man.  The  higher  and  educated  clergy  are 
celibates,  and  the  priests  are  generally  uneducated. 
Several  servants  have  gone  from  our  college  kitch- 
ens to  be  priests,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to 
persuade  a  graduate  to  undertake  this  service  in  an 
Oriental  church.  It  has  seemed  to  them  that  it 
would  diminish  rather  than  increase  their  influence 
for  good.    Many  have  done  good  work  as  teachers. 

207 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

ANOTHER  TWO   YEARS   IN  AMERICA.    1889-1891 

In  the  summer  of  1889  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I 
went  to  America  at  the  request  of  the  trustees  to 
raise  money  for  new  buildings  and  for  endowment. 
Professor  Panaretoff  went  with  us  and  returned 
for  the  opening  of  the  college  year.  Professor  van 
Millingen  took  my  classes  during  my  absence.  We 
were  tired  out  when  we  left  Constantinople,  and 
we  took  our  journey  very  leisurely,  stopping  to  see 
our  friends  in  Germany  and  England,  and  visiting 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  universities.  I  was  not 
at  all  well  when  I  reached  Boston,  and  one  of  my 
friends  invited  me  to  go  with  him  to  Poland  Springs 
to  recruit.  A  few  hours  before  we  were  to  start  he 
sent  a  messenger  to  say  that  unexpected  business 
would  prevent  his  going  that  day,  so  I  went  out  to 
spend  Sunday  with  my  mother  in  the  country. 
That  night  I  came  down  with  typhoid  fever,  and  it 
was  two  months  before  I  left  my  bed.  It  was  mid- 
winter before  I  could  begin  my  work  for  the  College. 
In  a  few  weeks  I  broke  down  again,  and  the  doctors 
sent  me  to  Florida,  or,  more  accurately,  the  doctors 
said  I  must  go,  and  Mr.  Kennedy  sent  me  with  Mrs. 
Washburn,  who  was  just  leaving  the  hospital  in 
Philadelphia. 

When  I  entered  upon  my  work  I  found  the  situ- 
ation quite  different  from  what  it  was  ten  years 

208 


ANOTHER  TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

before  when  I  made  my  first  campaign  in  America, 
just  after  the  Russo-Tiirkish  War.  There  \va 
much  less  interest  in  Turkish  affairs  and  in  the 
fate  of  Bulgaria.  Robert  College  was  more  widely 
known  and  perhaps  more  fully  appreciated,  al- 
though by  no  means  so  generally  known  in  America 
as  it  was  in  Europe.    Mr.  Stead,  whf^n  hp  visitoH 

Wnshin^Hn  in  th"  ^^'^^  orlTnim'gtratinn  of  Pr^siHp 

rinvnlnnd    wnr  hnrrifipd    as  hp.  t.nld  me  afterwar_ 
tfl  fifW  '1-  !'  ^1''  3' V'^'  ^^"""^  -^prrpJ^jv-ftf  State,  ha 
Ti^.roi.  h^n^A  ^f  T?r^K^r.t  (^^)iorre:  aud  Hkc  a  true  news- 
papgrman  he  blamed  me  for  not  blowing  mv  trum- 
petsoToud  that  all  America  would  hear  it.    I  pro- 
tested  that  somr  thin[;n  wf^re  better  ^Inn"  with  ^^^^ 

loocf  y^^i'c^  pr.ggiV>1p,   but   b^    imprnvpH    fViP    npp 

ni'ty.  -^t  fl.  dinner  ^iven  to  him  that  night  by  the  Rus 
sian  ambassador,  to  declare  that  Robert    iJoilege 
had  more  influence  in  the  East  than  either  Russia  ^ 
England,  and  that  it  would  end  in  Americanizi 


Turkey,  for  which  I  did  not  thank  him.    Ij  was  a  _ 
fnrtjn  Am^ri^p  ^>>Qtit.  was  chi^^y  in  rflin'^"^  nnm'nty 
thatjjie  College  was  kr^^wn.  whilp  in  England  nnd   . 
Rrissifi^  for  eyample,  it  was  best  known  in  the  min- 
istries  of  foreign  affairs,  and  know  n  on  account  oj 
tlie  mcidcwtal  iii9TimujLj£,.^iM^Collii^eJtfrR^ 
rather  than  for  its  real  purpose-as  a-6feTTs*jftft42Qllege. 
TheXnttege~was  not  less  appreciated  in  religion^ 
circles  in  America,  but  it  w^as  no  longer  unique.    Its 
success  had  not  only  modified  the  policy  of  foreign 
mission   boards,  but  had  already  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  similar  institutions  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  in  connection  with  the  missions  of  different 
religious   denominations.    While  I   met   with   less 

209 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

criticism  of  the  College  than  ten  years  before,  on 
the  part  of  good  people  who  did  not  believe  in  edu- 
cation as  a  legitimate  form  of  missionary  work,  the 
interest  of  the  givers  for  such  work  was  now  divided. 
Other  colleges  in  foreign  lands  were  in  need  of 
money  just  as  we  were,  and  I  had  no  desire  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  their  getting  it,  even  when  they  took  it 
out  from  under  my  hands.  It  was  the  Lord's  money 
going  into  the  Lord's  work  just  as  much  as  though 
it  came  to  Robert  College. 

I  can  never  forget  as  long  as  I  live,  and  I  believe 
that  I  shall  remember  with  thanksgiving  in  another 
world,  all  the  kindness  and   sympathy  that  I  met 
with  during  these  two  years.    It  seemed  like  a  reali- 
zation of  Christ's  promise  of  the  hundredfold  in 
this  world.    It  w^as  freely  given  by  old  friends  and 
new,  who  treated  me  as  a  brother  beloved  when  they 
had  nothing  but  gratitude  and  love  to  expect  in 
return.   All  that  was  painful  in  this  work  for  the 
College  came  from  a  lack  of  confidence  in  my  own 
ability  to  present  the  claims  of  the  College  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  them  understand.    When  I  broke 
down  in  New  York  and  was  sent  to  Florida  I  felt 
as  though  my  mission  was  a  failure.    We  had  a 
delightful  winter,  regained  our  health,  made  many 
friends,   interested  ourselves  in  much  good  work 
that  we  found  going  on  there,  and  learned  much  of 
the  burning   questions   which   were   agitating  the 
country.    Among  other  friends  at  St.  Augustine  we 
were  specially  indebted  to  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Edwin 
K.  Mitchell  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  who  did  all 
they   could   for   us   and   to   interest   others   in  the 
College.   I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr. 

210 


ANOTHER  TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

Kennedy  to  Mr.  Flagler,  and  he  was  very  kind.  lie 
even  offered  to  furnish  the  needed  funds,  if  I  would 
drop  Constantinople,  to  found  a  college  at  St.  Au- 
gustine, but  he  had  no  interest  in  Turkey.  We  went 
as  far  south  as  Lake  Worth  and  found  kind  friends 
there;  but  when  I  returned  to  Mr.  Kennedy's  in  the 
spring  with  no  money  for  the  College,  I  felt  as 
though  my  winter  was  a  failure.  It  was  not  long 
after  this  that  I  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Alanson 
Trask,  of  whom  I  had  seen  much  at  St.  Augustine, 
inviting  me  to  call  on  him  in  Brooklyn.  I  called 
and  he  gave  me  five  thousand  dollars.  A  year  or 
two  later  he  gave  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  more, 
also  unsolicited. 

In  the  spring  I  had  to  go  to  Washington  to  con 
suit  with  Mr.  Blaine  and  Senators  Sherman  and 
Edwards  in  regard  to  a  treaty  with  Turkey  which 
had  been  negotiated  by  Mr.  Straus  under  the  direc 
tion  of  Mr.  Bayard,  but  which  had  not  been  acted 
upon  by  the  Senate.  In  general  it  was  a  very  good 
treaty,  but  it  denationalized  a  number  of  persons 
who  had  long  been  recognized  as  American  citizens, 
and  on  this  ground  I  rponrppiprid^d  thnt  it  should 
nrvi- l->f^  l-nti'fif^H,  \v^||in]if  modifications.  Mr.  Blaing^ 
withdrrw  it  with  thr  pnnr^rt  of  thp  Committee  on 
Foreign  Affairs  T  hnd  npvcr  met  Mr.  Blaine  beforeT 
and  mv  previous  experience  with  American  Secre- 
taries of  State  had  not  led  me  lu  aalJLipAtii  &ul1i  H' 
reception  as  he  ^scve  me.  The  charm  of  his  manner 
was  a  levelaliuii  to  m^.  He  received  me  as  though  I 
had  been  an  old  friend  whom  he  was  delighted  to 
see  and  asked  me  questions  which  implied  that  he 
knew  all  about  me  and  Robert  College,  and  had 

211 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

nothing  more  important  to  do  than  to  enjoy  an 
hour  of  social  intercourse.  I  understood  then  the 
great  secret  of  his  popularity  in  the  country.  Sena- 
tors Sherman  and  Edwards  were  very  different  men, 
but  they  were  very  cordial  and  asked  the  Senate  in 
secret  session  to  furnish  me  with  all  the  papers 
relating  to  the  treaty,  that  I  might  give  them  a 
full  memorandum  on  the  subject,  which  I  did. 
Washington  was  not  a  good  place  to  raise  money, 
but  I  found  many  warm  friends  there,  some  of 
w^hom  I  had  known  in  Constantinople. 

In  the  autumn  of  1891,  by  advice  of  the  trustees, 
I  attended  the  meeting  of  the  American  Board  in 
Minneapolis.  I  had  visited  St.  Paul  in  1857  w^hen 
it  was  a  modern  village,  and  the  change  which 
had  taken  place  there  seemed  miraculous.  I  had 
some  very  dear  Constantinople  friends  living  in 
the  Northwest  Territory  four  hundred  miles  west 
of  Winnipeg,  and  so  I  went  by  Montreal  and  the 
Canadian  Pacific  to  visit  them  on  my  way  to 
Minneapolis.  Wlien  I  left  the  train  at  a  station 
fifty  miles  from  their  home,  in  the  night,  I  was  as- 
tonished to  hear  my  name  called  by  a  young  man, 
who  took  my  valise  as  I  stepped  on  to  the  platform 
in  the  dark,  and  still  more  astonished  when  I  came 
into  the  light  to  see  an  old  student  of  Robert  College, 
who  had  heard  accidentally  that  I  was  coming  and 
had  walked  eight  miles,  after  his  day's  work,  to 
w^elcome  me.  When  I  returned  to  Winnipeg  I  had 
a  very  hearty  welcome  from  the  Presbyterian  Col- 
lege and  the  churches  there.  They  knew  more 
about  Robert  College  than  the  majority  of  similar 
people  in  the  United  States.   I  did  not  expect  to  get 

212 


ANOTHER  TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

any  money  at  Minneapolis,  but  it  was  a  delightful 
and  profitable  experience  in  the  renewal  of  many 
old  friendships,  and  profitable  in  the  opportunity 
it  gave  me  to  consult  with  others  engaged  in  similar 
work,  as  well  as  to  make  known  what  Robert 
College  was  doing.  I  had  hoped  to  get  some  money 
in  Chicago,  Detroit  and  Cleveland  on  my  way 
back,  and  I  was  not  altogether  disappointed;  but  I 
found  my  friends  too  heavily  burdened  with  good 
work  near  home  to  spare  much  for  Constantinople, 
and  that  many  of  their  gifts  at  home  were  really 
drafts  on  the  future.  I  shall  never  forget  two  or 
three  days  that  I  spent  at  Lake  Forest  and  the  re- 
ception given  me  there  by  Dr.  McClure.  At  Chi- 
cago I  found  a  home  with  Mr.  Blatchford,  always 
a  warm  friend  of  mine  and  of  the  College. 

I  visited  a  good  many  colleges  and  universities  to 
interest  the  students  in  our  work  and  met  with  a 
hearty  welcome,  especially  at  Amherst,  Williams, 
Hamilton  and  Princeton.  I  found  college  presi- 
dents generally  ready  to  aid  me  in  every  way  in 
their  power,  and  with  a  keen  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  the  w^ork  we  were  doing  in  Constantinople, 
and  I  met  a  number  of  peripatetic  Western  college 
presidents  on  begging  expeditions  in  the  East,  who 
could  at  least  sympathize  with  me  if  they  did  riot 
help  me.  One  gentleman  on  whom  I  called  re- 
ceived me  almost  with  a  groan  and  opened  con- 
versation with  the  information  that  I  was  the 
seventh  college  president  who  had  called  on  him 
that  day,  and  intimated  that  we  left  him  no  time  to 
attend  to  his  own  business. 

With  the  ministers  I  had  a  varied  experience. 

213 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Some  of  them  evidently  looked  upon  me  as  a  wolf 
trying  to  enter  their  fold  —  or  at  least  as  a  sneak- 
thief.  Some  wished  me  all  possible  success  in 
churches  of  my  own  denomination,  or  at  least  in 
some  other  congregation  than  theirs.  I  did  not 
blame  them.  It  was  easy  to  understand  that  they 
felt  that  their  people  were  already  distracted  by  the 
multiplication  of  the  appeals  made  to  them.  On  the 
w^hole  I  found  the  ministers  most  sympathetic  and 
ready  to  do  anything  in  their  power  to  help  me.  If 
I  had  been  strong  enough  I  might  have  had  a 
good  congregation  to  speak  to  every  Sunday,  in  the 
strongest  churches;  and  I  did  a  good  deal  of  this 
work  with  profit,  especially  in  New  York,  where  I 
was  received  as  a  brother  in  the  ministerial  club, 
Chi  Alpha,  which  united  the  leading  Presbyterian, 
Dutch  Reformed  and  Congregational  ministers  in 
the  city.  Very  precious  memories  are  connected  with 
the  members  of  this  club.  Some  of  the  Episcopalian 
clergymen  also  were  very  friendly  and  ready  to  help 
me.  So  were  Dr.  Hale  of  Boston  and  several  other 
Unitarian  ministers.  The  editors  of  the  religious 
newspapers  were  mostly  old  friends  of  mine  and 
were  always  ready  to  lend  a  hand.  The  same  thing 
was  true  of  some  of  the  daily  papers.  I  have  no 
doubt  about  the  value  of  their  support,  although  I 
have  seldom  known  any  money  to  come  from  this 
source  alone.  For  that  matter  I  never,  when  I  spoke, 
appealed  for  a  general  contribution,  although  I 
know  of  some  large  gifts  which  have  been  prompted 
by  addresses  that  I  made.  Dr.  Field,  Dr.  Ward,  Dr. 
Abbott  and  the  Primes,  all  the  professors  in  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  Dr.  Taylor,  Dr.  van 

214 


ANOTHER  TWO  YEARS  IN  AMERICA 

Dyke,  Dr.  Hall,  Dr.  Booth,  Phillips  Brooks  and  his 
brother  Arthur,  are  only  a  few  of  many  devoted 
friends  whom  I  might  name  among  the  ministers 
and  editors.  And  I  had  no  more  enthusiastic  sup- 
porters than  our  former  tutors  who  were  then  oc- 
cupying various  important  positions  in  America. 

With  all  this  sympathy  and  support  it  would 
seem  that  I  ought  to  have  found  it  easy  to  raise  all 
the  money  we  asked  for.  It  was  not  the  Lord's 
will.  He  gave  us  what  He  saw  that  it  was  best  for 
us  to  have.  I  say  this  the  more  confidently  because 
most  of  the  money  which  has  come  to  us  since 
has  not  come  from  any  immediate  solicitation  on 
my  part,  and  most  of  what  I  got  at  that  time 
came  without  my  directly  asking  for  it.  As  a  gen- 
eral rule  when  I  asked  I  got  nothing  but  sympathy 
and  often  only  a  polite  refusal  without  sympathy. 

There  were  some  very  interesting  exceptions  to 
this  which  were  like  flowers  strewed  along  my  path. 
The  late  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  was  one  of  them.  I 
had  never  met  him  when  I  went  to  his  office  at  the 
Central  Station  to  ask  him  for  money;  but  he  knew 
something  of  the  College,  and  he  listened  to  w^hat  I 
had  to  say  and  questioned  me  as  though  it  were  a 
part  of  his  business,  which  it  was  necessary  for  him 
to  understand.  He  gave  me  a  thousand  dollars  then 
and  another  donation  later  on.  Another  exception 
was  Mr.  Elbert  W.  Munroe.  In  answer  to  a  letter 
he  invited  me  to  come  to  his  house  in  the  country, 
where  he  and  Mrs.  Munroe  received  me  most  cor- 
dially and  carefully  questioned  me  as  to  everything 
connected  with  the  College.  Later  on  they  sent  for 
me  again  and  gave  me  five  thousand  dollars.    It  was 

215 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

not  simply  the  cordiality  with  which  I  was  received, 
it  was  not  simply  the  money  given,  which  impressed 
me  so  happily;  it  was  the  fact  that  the  money  was 
given  after  a  careful  and  conscientious  consideration 
of  the  real  worth  of  the  College  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 

I  went  to  America  to  ask  for  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars for  buildings  and  at  least  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  increased  endowment.  Mr.  J.  S.  Ken- 
nedy gave  the  money  for  the  president's  house, 
which  we  call  Kennedy  Lodge,  and  I  found  the 
money  for  the  building  now  known  as  Albert  Long 
Hall.  Through  Professor  Newton  of  Yale  Univer- 
sity, the  children  of  Mrs.  Lois  Newton  of  Sherburne, 
N.Y.,  gave  the  property  left  by  their  mother,  about 
fifteen  thousand  dollars,  for  the  establishment 
of  one-hundred-dollar  scholarships  for  the  sons  of 
Protestant  clergymen  in  Turkey  or  Bulgaria,  or  for 
other  Christian  young  men  —  a  very  timely  gift. 
But  aside  from  this  very  little  was  added  to  the  en- 
dowment. 

In  May,  1891,  I  returned  to  Constantinople, 
somewhat  disappointed,  but  thankful  for  what  had 
been  accomplished  and  with  precious  memories  of 
my  two  years  in  America. 


216 


CHAPTER  XIX 

IMPROVEMENTS    IN   THE    COLLEGE.     1800-1892 

For  the  greater  part  of  the  twenty-eighth  year  I 
was  in  America,  but  returned  before  its  close. 

The  number  of  students  registered  was  159,  and 
for  the  third  successive  year  the  number  of  board- 
ers was  104.  Of  the  whole  number  59  were  Ar- 
menians, 41  Bulgarians,  39  Greeks,  13  English  and 
Americans,  7  others. 

The  twenty-ninth  year  the  number  registered  was 
194,  of  whom  130  were  boarders.  Seventy  were 
Armenians,  52  Bulgarians,  47  Greeks,  13  English 
and  Americans,  12  others. 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  students  which 
commenced  this  year  was  undoubtedly  due  in  some 
measure  to  the  new  signs  of  life  in  the  College,  in 
the  erection  of  new  buildings.  No  such  outward 
signs  had  appeared  for  many  years.  We  had  not 
even  built  a  w^all  around  the  college  grounds.  This 
also  was  done  in  1891,  and  it  added  wonderfully  to 
the  general  impression  of  the  prosperity  and  dignity 
of  the  College.  We  continued  our  efforts  to  obtain 
permission  to  build  a  sewer  to  the  Bosphorus,  but 
it  was  still  years  later  that  we  obtained  it.  No  per- 
mission could  be  had  to  build  it  along  the  road 
through  the  Turkish  Cemetery,  as  it  was  said  that 
there  might  be  graves  of  some  of  the  faithful  under 
the  roadway  which  would  be  desecrated  by  a  sewer. 

217 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

It  was  finally  built  by  a  circuitous  route  through  the 
old  castle. 

On  our  return  from  America  we  went  to  live  in 
Kennedy  Lodge,  although  it  was  not  quite  finished, 
Professor  Anderson  continuing  to  live  in  Hamlin 
Hall.  There  is  no  more  beautiful  site  for  a  house  in 
any  part  of  the  world  that  I  have  seen  than  that  of 
Kennedy  Lodge,  which  we  occupied  until  1904. 

The  political  situation  during  these  two  years  was 
essentially  unchanged  —  the  Russian  government 
was  still  plotting  against  the  existing  regime  in  Bul- 
garia in  a  way  which  tended  to  demoralize  the 
people.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Dr.  Vulcovitch, 
the  Bulgarian  diplomatic  agent  at  Constantinople, 
was  assassinated  in  front  of  his  own  house  by  per- 
sons protected  by  the  Russian  Embassy.  The  con- 
flict between  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians  over  the 
ecclesiastical  affairs  in  Macedonia  went  on  as  be- 
fore. The  Turkish  government  was  not  unfriendly 
to  Bulgaria  so  long  as  Russia  was  hostile  to  it,  but 
it  was  suspicious  of  Bulgarians  coming  to  Constan- 
tinople; and  in  September,  1890,  one  of  our  students 
was  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison  on  his  return 
after  a  vacation  because  a  copy  of  Freeman's  "  Sketch 
of  European  History  "  was  found  in  his  trunk.  We 
secured  his  release  after  a  few  days,  but  the  incident 
was  typical  of  what  our  students  often  suffered  on 
account  of  their  books.  I  once  went  myself  to  the 
Ministry  of  Public  Instruction  to  protest  against 
the  seizure  of  some  French  text-books  which  were 
issued  by  the  French  government.  The  official 
whom  I  found  in  charge  was  a  native  of  India  who 
spoke  English  very  freely.   He  refused  to  give  up 

218 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  COLLEGE 

the  books,  although  he  acknowledged  that  they  con- 
tained nothing  to  object  to  except  a  notice  of  Vol- 
taire's drama  of  Mohammed,  which  in  fact  was 
very  comjilimentary  to  the  Prophet.  I  asked  on 
what  principle  they  condemned  books.  He  replied 
that  they  would  admit  nothing  which  mentioned  the 
Turkish  government  or  the  Mohammedan  religion 
favorably  or  unfavorably.  I  objected  that  this 
would  exclude  history,  cyclopedias,  dictionaries, 
and  a  great  amount  of  literature,  Shakespeare  for 
example.  "Well,"  he  said,  "what  the  devil  do 
you  come  here  for,  anyway  ?  Why  can't  you  let  us 
go  to  hell  in  our  own  way.?"  And  then  he  very 
politely  bade  me  good-morning.  I  never  got  the 
books. 

There  w^as  no  change  for  the  better  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Armenians.  The  agitators  w^ere  not  numer- 
ous, but  they  were  active  in  stirring  up  discontent 
in  the  country  and  in  appealing  to  public  opinion 
in  Europe.  The  Turkish  government  did  nothing 
in  the  way  of  reform  and  was  increasingly  active  in 
measures  of  repression.  The  old  friendly  feeling 
between  the  Turks  and  Armenians,  who  had  al- 
ways been  regarded  with  more  favor  than  the  other 
Christian  nationalities  and  who  seemed  to  under- 
stand each  other  better,  had  given  place  to  distrust 
and  fear.  It  seemed  as  though  the  government  was 
doing  what  it  could  to  develop  this  mutual  distrust, 
and  desired  to  bring  about  a  conflict,  and  was  thus 
playing  into  the  hands  of  the  revolutionists  who  be- 
lieved that  such  a  conflict  w^ould  bring  about  a 
European  intervention.  The  sober-minded  Arme- 
nians had  no  sympathy  with  the  revolutionists,  and 

219 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

saw  plainly  that  the  hope  of  their  people  scattered 
all  over  the  country  was  not  in  rebellion,  but  in  the 
peaceful  progress  of  enlightenment.  It  was  this 
feeling  which  had  led  so  many  to  send  their  sons  to 
Robert  College.  The  event  proved  that  the  Sultan 
had  a  much  more  accurate  knowledge  of  vEuropean 
politics  than  the  revolutionists  and  their  friends 
in  Europe.  We  saw  many  European  statesmen  in 
Constantinople  in  those  days  who  came  here  as  to 
a  storm  centre  to  see  more  clearly  what  was  to  be 
expected.  The  most  interesting  among  those  whom 
I  saw  was  Mr.  Chamberlain,  who  at  that  time  ap- 
peared to  have  sacrificed  his  own  career  to  his  loy- 
alty to  the  unity  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  I 
had  seen  him  in  the  House  of  Commons,  where  I  saw 
no  other  who  was  his  equal  in  debate,  and  I  found 
him  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  interesting  in- 
vestigators of  the  Eastern  question.  England  suf- 
fered a  great  loss  at  this  time  in  the  sudden  death  of 
Sir  William  White  in  Berlin,  where  he  had  gone  to 
spend  Christmas.  If  the  time  ever  comes  when  the 
government  allows  the  publication  of  his  private 
papers,  which  it  took  possession  of  after  his  death, 
it  will  be  the  most  interesting  of  books.  They  sent 
Sir  Philip  Curry  here  as  ambassador  in  his  place, 
another  acquaintance  that  I  had  made  through 
Lord  Salisbury  at  the  same  time  that  I  first  met  Sir 
William  White.  He  had  never  had  any  experience 
in  the  diplomatic  service,  but  had  been  private  sec- 
retary of  Lord  Salisbury  and  later  Under  Secretary 
for  Foreign  Affairs.  He  was  always  a  good  friend  of 
mine  and  of  the  College.  My  relations  with  him 
were  as  pleasant  as  they  had  been  with  Sir  William 

220 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  COLLEGE 

White,  and  in  general  I  was  in  sympathy  with 
the  EngHsh  policy  here.  It  was  neither  anti-Turk- 
ish nor  anti-Russian,  a  policy  of  peace  and  not  of 
war,  but  not  peace  at  any  price.  England  would 
have  resisted  the  conquest  of  southeastern  Europe 
by  Russia,  and  she  favored  the  natural  solution  of 
the  Eastern  question  in  the  development  of  the 
smaller  states,  Greece,  Bulgaria,  Roumania  and 
Servia.  So  in  regard  to  the  Asiatic  provinces  of 
Turkey,  what  she  aimed  at  was  not  the  destruction 
or  the  weakening  of  the  Turkish  power,  but  the 
strengthening  of  it  by  good  government  and  the  fair, 
just  and  equal  treatment  of  all  the  Christian  sub- 
jects of  the  Sultan,  especially  of  the  Armenians.  In 
securing  this  she  did  not  wish  to  act  alone  but  in 
concert  with  the  other  Powers.  Whether  a  more 
active  policy  two  years  later  would  have  prevented 
the  calamities  which  followed  is  not  a  question  to  be 
discussed  here. 

Another  old  friend  of  the  College  died  soon  after 
Sir  William  White  —  Mr.  Heap,  who  had  been  for 
some  years  consul-general  of  the  United  States  at 
Constantinople.  He  was  born  in  the  consular  service 
at  Tunis,  where  his  father  w^as  consul. 

We  lost  our  leading  French  teacher  in  1892,  not 
by  death,  but  by  the  will  of  the  Sultan,  who  took 
him  to  teach  his  sons;  and  he  is  still  in  service  at  the 
palace,  although  the  last  time  I  met  him,  he  told  me 
that  he  had  not  given  a  lesson  for  eighteen  months. 
This  was  the  second  time  that  the  Sultan  had  taken 
one  of  our  teachers,  the  first  being  a  German. 

In  the  winter  of  1891-92,  following  a  visit 
from  Mr.  Wishard,  the  secretary  of  the  Collegiate 

221 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  a  branch  of  this  organization  was 
founded  by  our  students  which  was  adapted  to  the 
pecuHar  wants  of  this  polyglot  institution  and  was 
at  the  same  time  in  full  harmony  with  the  general 
society. 

It  was  composed  of  four  sections:  Armenian, 
Bulgarian,  Greek  and  English,  each  using  its  own 
language  and  meeting  three  times  a  month,  united 
in  one  General  Association,  meeting  once  a  month 
and  using  only  the  English  language.  Most  of  the 
personal  work  in  each  nationality  is  conducted 
under  the  direction  of  the  respective  sections.  The 
president  of  the  General  Association  is  always  a 
member  of  the  Faculty.  This  society  is  now  con- 
nected with  the  International  Association  and  has 
been  represented  at  various  general  meetings  in 
Europe. 

It  was  during  the  twenty-ninth  year  that  I  be- 
gan to  take  some  part  in  the  preparation  for  the 
proposed  Parliament  of  Religions,  to  be  held  in 
Chicago  in  1893,  and  I  had  some  very  interesting 
interviews  with  the  heads  of  different  religious  com- 
munities and  others  whom  I  invited  to  be  present  in 
person  or  by  deputy.  I  sympathized  heartily  with 
Dr.  Barrows'  plans  and  did  what  I  could  to  help 
him,  although  I  had  not  so  great  faith  as  he  had  in 
the  practical  results  which  would  follow.  I  found  all 
the  religious  communities  afraid  to  commit  them- 
selves by  sending  official  representatives,  but,  in  one 
way  or  another,  they  were  represented.  Constan- 
tinople itself  is  a  Parliament  of  Religions,  but  the 
discussions  are  not  irenic,  and  it  is  very  difficult  for 
people  to  understand  how  they  can  be.   The  Sun- 

222 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  COLLEGE 

day  congregation  at  Robert  College  comes  nearer  to 
the  ideal  than  any  that  I  have  seen. 

We  did  our  best  during  the  twenty-ninth  year  to 
make  some  advance  in  the  College  internally  as  well 
as  externally.  We  had  a  very  harmonious  Faculty, 
and  the  work  done  was  reasonably  satisfactory. 
Professor  van  Millingen  became  Professor  of  His- 
tory and  English  Literature.  Mr.  Ormiston  spent 
the  year  1891-1892  at  Johns  Hopkins  University  in 
Baltimore,  and  on  his  return  was  appointed  Profes- 
sor of  Chemistry  and  Mineralogy.  Professor  Eliou 
had  been  made  professor  and  the  head  of  the  Greek 
Department,  which  he  had  already  raised  to  a  level 
with  the  Armenian  and  Bulgarian.  We  suffered,  as 
we  always  have,  from  the  excessive  amount  of  lin- 
guistic work  which  is  demanded  in  this  country. 
Some  wag  proposed,  when  the  College  was  founded, 
that  it  be  named  Babel  College,  and  it  was  not  al- 
together a  joke.  We  met  the  difficulty  in  part  by 
making  the  College  course  five  years  in  place  of 
four,  but  we  have  not  escaped  giving  additional  time 
to  the  vernacular  of  each  nationality,  to  meet  the  in- 
creasing demands  of  the  Bulgarian  and  Greek  gov- 
ernments and  the  popular  sentiment  of  the  Armeni- 
ans. The  Turkish  government  will  no  doubt  make 
equal  demands  in  the  course  of  time.  It  is  reason- 
able, and  we  have  no  desire  to  denationalize  our  stu- 
dents and  unfit  them  to  be  leaders  of  their  own 
people. 

The  question  of  elective  courses  had  already 
forced  itself  upon  us,  and  we  yielded  something  in 
this  direction.  I  suppose  that  it  is  heresy  to  confess 
this  now,  but  I  did  not  believe  in  elective  courses  in 

223 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

colleges  and  never  favored  them.  I  do  not  believe 
in  them  now.  They  belong  to  the  university,  and,  as 
Professor  Miinsterberg  once  said,  the  American  col- 
lege of  to-day  seems  to  me  to  be  a  cross  between  a 
university  and  a  kindergarten.  The  old  college  was 
a  place  of  severe  discipline,  mental  and  moral.  It 
has  dropped  out  in  America,  and  nothing  has  taken 
its  place.  It  may  be  true  that  in  this  age  of  speciali- 
zation the  "all-round  man"  of  the  old  time  is  an 
impossibility.  Certainly  it  is  hard  to  find  one; 
but  it  seems  to  me  all  the  more  necessary  for  the 
specialist  to  have  four  years  of  general  discipline 
and  culture,  with  no  option  as  to  what  he  will  study, 
before  he  begins  to  specialize;  and  I  say  this  with- 
out any  reference  to  the  many  obvious  abuses  of 
the  elective  system,  which  are  not  an  essential  part 
of  it.  We  have  yielded  something  in  the  way  of 
electives  without  giving  up  our  idea  of  what  a  college 
ought  to  be,  and  we  are  forced  to  have  a  preparatory 
department  to  meet  the  peculiar  w^ants  of  the 
country.  The  majority  of  our  students  have  never 
graduated  or  intended  to  graduate  when  they 
entered.  We  do  our  best  for  them  and  have  reason 
to  be  proud  of  some  of  them,  but  we  wish  that  all 
who  are  capable  of  it  might  have  the  full  course  of 
discipline  and  culture  necessary  for  graduation,  for 
their  own  sake  and  for  the  good  of  their  people. 

The  new  college  building,  which  was  then  called 
Science  Hall,  but  which  since  Dr.  Long's  death  has 
been  named  for  him,  was  completed  in  the  spring  of 
1892.  It  was  furnished  by  Mrs.  Davies  of  New 
Haven,  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Professor  van  Millingen. 
The  Chemical  Department  was  in  the  basement,  the 

224 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  THE  COLLEGE 

museum,  library  and  Department  of  Physics  on  the 
first  floor.  The  whole  of  the  upper  story  was  occu- 
pied by  a  hall,  which  was  divided  by  a  movable  par- 
tition into  a  chapel  and  lecture  room.  It  was  de- 
signed by  Professor  Hamlin  of  Columbia  University 
and  built  by  Mr.  Burness,  a  Scotch  builder,  who  is 
one  of  the  most  respected  and  reliable  men  in  Con- 
stantinople and  has  put  up  most  of  our  buildings. 
The  college  buildings  and  Kennedy  Lodge  are  all 
built  of  blue  limestone  quarried  on  the  campus. 

It  w^as  in  the  great  hall  of  the  new  building  that  w^e 
celebrated  the  Commencement  exercises  June  26, 
1892,  with  an  audience  of  nearly  a  thousand,  includ- 
ing the  British  ambassador,  diplomatic  representa- 
tives of  Austria,  Holland,  Greece  and  Bulgaria, 
and  many  other  official  and  distinguished  guests  of 
various  nationalities.  This  was  the  formal  inaugu- 
ration of  the  building.  I  was  not  present  on  this 
happy  occasion,  having  started  for  America  at  the 
end  of  May  to  recruit  my  health  and  return  in 
September. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  better  days,  but  the 
class  which  graduated  was  the  smallest  since  1874, 
only  five  in  number,  and  smaller  than  any  class 
since.  Four  were  Armenians  and  1  a  Bulgarian. 
The  Bulgarian  is  now  a  merchant  in  Russia.  Of 
the  Armenians  2  are  merchants,  1  a  dentist  and  1 
a  physician. 

The  class  of  1891  numbered  8,  4  Armenians,  3 
Bulgarians  and  1  Greek.  Of  the  x\rmenians  1  is  a 
teacher,  1  a  dentist,  1  a  merchant,  1  unknown.  Of  the 
Bulgarians  1  is  in  the  diplomatic  service,  1  an  army 
officer  and  1  a  teacher.   The  Greek  is  a  merchant. 

225 


CHAPTER  XX 

TRYING  TIMES  IN  TURKEY.     1892-1894 

The  number  of  students  registered  the  thirtieth 
year  was  203,  of  whom  143  were  boarders.  Seventy- 
three  were  Armenians,  60  Bulgarians,  46  Greeks,  15 
English  and  Americans,  others  9.  The  thirty-first 
year  the  number  registered  was  200,  of  whom  123 
were  boarders.  Sixty-eight  were  Armenians,  65 
Greeks,  44  Bulgarians,  14  English  and  Americans, 
others  9. 

These  two  years  were  the  beginning  of  more  try- 
ing times  in  the  country  and  in  the  College,  mingled 
with  many  experiences  for  which  we  were  very 
grateful.    In  Constantinople  itself  the  thirtieth  year 
was  comparatively  uneventful;    but  the  Armenian 
troubles  in  the  interior  were  increasing,  and  special 
complaints    were    made    against    the    American 
s/chools.    Hon.   A.   W.   Terrell,  an  ex-Confederate 
officer  from  Texas,  had  been  sent  here  by  President 
Cleveland  to  represent  the  United  States,  and  we 
svere  under  his  protection  for  four  years.   He  was 
vithout  diplomatic  experience  and  in  many  ways 
I  typical  Texan  of  the  old  school;    but  he  was  a 
jrave,   warm-hearted,   reconstructed  American  of 
;reat  natural  ability,  who  did  his  best  to  defend 
American    citizens    and    American    interests.    We 
^ere  under  constant  and  great  obligations  to  him. 
e  had  a  talk  with  the  Grand  Vizier  one  day  in 

226 


TRYING  TIMES  IN  TURKEY 

1893  which  is  worth  noting  here.  The  Grand 
Vizier  said  they  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  the 
Jesuits,  because  they  always  spoke  well  of  the  Turks, 
but  "  where  did  you  ever  see  anything  good  said  of 
the  Turks  by  an  American  missionary?"  Mr. 
Terrell  replied,  "Why,  I  was  at  the  Commence- 
ment exercises  of  Robert  College,  and  I  heard  the 
president  charge  those  young  men  to  be  loyal  to 
the  sovereign,  and  then  I  heard  him  pray  for  the 
Sultan."  "Oh,  yes!"  said  the  Grand  Vizier,  "that 
was  Robert  College.  That  is  altogether  different. 
Did  any  one  ever  hear  of  the  government  having 
any  fault  to  find   w'ith   Robert   College.^     Robert 

College  is   all  right,  but  those  people  at are 

quite  different." 

It  is  easy  to  say  good  things  about  the  Turks.  We 
live  in  the  most  friendly  relations  with  them  and 
alw^ays  find  good  things  to  say  about  them.  What 
the  Grand  Vizier  meant  was,  good  things  about  the 
Turkish  government.  There  are  some  good  things 
to  be  said  about  this  also.  Robert  College  has 
reason  to  be  grateful  that  for  the  last  forty  years  it 
has  never  interfered  with  our  work  in  any  way,  or 
refused  any  of  the  requests  that  we  have  made  for 
new  buildings  or  for  the  protection  of  our  students, 
and  that  it  has  freed  us  from  taxation.  In  return  for 
this  it  has  always  been  our  purpose  to  respect  its 
laws  and  its  wishes.  We  have  taught  our  students  to 
do  the  same  thing,  and  have  never  tolerated  any 
seditious  movements  among  them. 

Personally,  outside  the  College,  I  have  expressed 
my  own  opinions  as  to  the  policy  of  the  government 
and  used  what  influence  I  had  in  favor  of  what 

227 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

seemed  to  me  the  true  interests  of  all  the  people 
of  Turkey.  I  love  these  people,  and  I  could  not  do 
otherwise.  I  only  regret  that  I  have  not  been  able 
to  do  more  for  them. 

The  saddest  event  of  the  year  for  the  College  was 
the  sudden  death  of  Mrs.  van  Millingen  on  a  French 
steamer  from  Marseilles.   She  went  to  America  with 
me  in  the  spring  and  was  returning  with  Professor 
Panaretoff .   The  news  of  her  death  came  to  us  by 
telegraph  from  Athens,  while  we  were  having  a 
general    Thanksgiving    Day    dinner    at    Kennedy 
Lodge,  as  a  shock  never  to  be  forgotten.    No  one  in 
the  College  filled  a  larger  place  in  our  hearts  and 
lives  than  she  did,  and  her  memory  will  be  cherished 
as  long  as  any  of  those  who  knew  her  continue  to  live. 
The  records  of  the  Faculty  show  that  much  time 
was  given  during  the  year  to  the  perfecting  of  the 
course  of  study.   Among  other  things  importance 
was  given  to  the  development  of  vocal  and  instru- 
mental  music,  which   had   never  been   altogether 
neglected,  but  which  had  been  kept  in  the  back- 
ground by  our  poverty,  although  its  importance  for 
our  students  had  been  recognized.    Our  students 
were  able  in  June  to  give  a  concert,  with  the  aid  of 
their  teacher,  which  attracted  a  large  audience  from 
all  parts  of  the  city  and  brought  in  about  a  hun- 
dred dollars  for  the  charity  fund  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
Something  was  also  done   to  provide   commercial 
instruction  for  those  who  desired  it.    I  had  taught 
bookkeeping  in  the  College  myself  for  many  years, 
so  far  as  I  considered  it  an  essential  part  of  every 
educated   man's  preparation  for  life.     I  believed 
that  incidentally  it  had  also  an  ethical  value. 

228 


TRYING  TIMES  IN  TURKEY 

The  French  Department  was  organized  and  put 
on  a  solid  foundation  by  the  appointment  of  a 
permanent  ijistructor  to  direct  it.  It  had  never  been 
satisfactory  to  us  or  to  our  students  up  to  this  time, 
as  our  teachers  were  constantly  changing  and 
often  inexperienced. 

The  Scientific  Department  also  made  very  satis- 
factory progress,  with  the  advantage  of  the  new 
Science  Hall  and  the  division  of  work  between  Dr. 
Long  and  Professor  Ormiston.  Through  the  kind- 
ness of  a  friend  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  large  additions 
were  made  to  our  apparatus,  and  our  museum  was 
enriched  by  a  complete  and  beautiful  collection  of 
the  fish  and  the  algae  of  the  Bosphorus,  besides  a 
number  of  prepared  skeletons  of  birds  and  ani- 
mals. 

The  marriage  of  Professor  Ormiston  and  Miss 
Farley  left  the  College  without  a  matron,  and  we 
had  the  good  fortune  to  find  a  lady  to  take  her 
place  who  was  an  experienced  trained  nurse.  Miss 
Meredith  Hart,  who  has  ever  since  filled  a  large 
place  in  our  college  life,  and  to  whom  teachers, 
their  families,  and  students  who  have  been  sick 
owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  cannot  be  expressed 
in  words,  but  which  is  never  forgotten. 

In  the  summer  of  1893  I  went  to  America  to  at- 
tend the  Parliament  of  Religions  at  the  Columbian 
Fair.  At  Chicago  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  were  the 
guests  of  our  dear  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blatchford. 
I  spoke  on  Mohammedanism  and  Christianity,  and 
was  so  far  successful  in  presenting  a  fair  statement 
of  the  former  that  no  complaint  was  made  of  it 
at  Constantinople,  although  Orthodox  Mohamme- 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

dans  naturally  could  not  accept  the  address  as  a 
whole,  while  some  of  my  Turkish  friends  here  re- 
ceived it  with  favor.  I  also  delivered  an  address  on 
the  Aim  of  Foreign  Missions.  The  Parliament  of 
Religions  was  much  discussed  at  the  time  and  in 
the  following  years,  bitterly  attacked  by  some  and 
greatly  exalted  by  others.  It  is  certain  now  that 
neither  the  fears  of  the  one  party  nor  the  hopes  of 
the  other  have  been  realized.  My  own  deliberate 
opinion  is  that  it  did  no  permanent  harm  and  much 
real  good.  It  fell  to  Dr.  Barrows  to  bring  out, 
define  and  express  to  the  world  a  thought  which  was 
already  working  in  men's  minds,  and  which  is  now 
the  source  of  much  of  the  religious  controversy 
going  on  in  the  world.  It  was  well  that  it  should  be 
brought  out  by  a  man  who  had  unshaken  faith 
in  the  Divine  origin  of  Christianity,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  fear  that  it  will  not  in  the  end  lead  to 
a  clearer  conception  of  what  Christianity  means. 
While  in  America  and  after  my  return  I  was  drawn 
into  a  public  and  private  discussion  in  regard  to  the 
secret  society  known  as  the  Mystic  Shrine  of  Mecca, 
which  professes  to  be  affiliated  with  the  Mohamme- 
dan order  of  Bektashi  dervishes,  some  of  whom  in 
Constantinople  are  near  neighbors  and  special 
friends  of  mine.  It  is  true  that  Orthodox  Moham- 
medans look  upon  the  Bektashis  as  a  heretical  sect, 
but  they  are  Mohammedans.  If  this  American 
society  is  what  it  professes  to  be,  its  members  are 
Mohammedans  who  do  not  live  up  to  their  faith, 
for  the  first  duty  of  a  Mohammedan  is  to  confess  his 
faith  and  defend  it.  If  it  is  a  fraud  and  a  parody  on 
Mohammedanism,  it  is  an  insult  to  a  great  religion 

230 


TRYING  TIMES  IN  TURKEY 

whicli  is  a  shame  to  America.  The  Bektashis  here 
are  still  in  doubt  as  to  which  it  is,  and  so  am  1. 

When  the  thirty-first  college  year  opened  in 
September,  1893,  Constantinople  was  surrounded 
by  quarantine  stations  which  made  all  travel  very 
difficult,  and  about  the  same  time  cholera  broke  out 
in  the  city  and  continued  with  more  or  less  severity 
until  April,  with  sanitary  regulations  which  caused 
even  more  excitement  and  alarm  than  the  disease 
itself.  The  number  of  students  coming  from  Bul- 
garia and  other  places  fell  off  seriously.  I  managed 
to  get  back  by  way  of  Trieste  with  only  one  day  of 
quarantine,  but  the  land  quarantines  were  more 
dangerous  to  health  than  the  cholera,  and  it  was  a 
wonder  to  us  that  so  many  students  came. 

As  we  had  deliberately  increased  our  expenses 
considerably  by  the  appointment  of  new  teachers, 
and  in  reasonable  expectation  of  an  increased 
revenue  from  students,  we  found  ourselves  under 
the  necessity  of  cutting  down  the  salaries  of  all  our 
professors  until  we  were  relieved  from  our  financial 
difficulties  by  a  special  contribution  from  seven  of 
our  tried  friends  in  America  who  came  to  the  rescue. 
This  is  the  only  time  in  the  history  of  the  College 
that  we  have  made  such  an  appeal  to  our  friends. 

In  July,  1894,  just  after  our  Commencement, 
came  the  great  earthquake  which  caused  the  death 
of  some  fifteen  hundred  people,  destroyed  or  seri- 
ously injured  many  thousand  houses  and  public 
buildings,  and  caused  such  ruin  in  the  bazaars  that 
the  seven  thousand  shops  there  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. The  shocks  lasted  about  a  month,  and 
great  numbers  of   the  people  camped   out  in  the 

231 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

fields,  cemeteries  and  open  places  for  much  of 
this  time.  The  College  buildings  were  vigorously 
shaken  but  not  seriously  injured;  and,  so  far  as  is 
known,  none  of  the  many  earthquakes  here  have 
ever  done  serious  injury  on  this  part  of  the  Bos- 
phorus.  The  centre  of  disturbance  is  the  line 
where  the  Silurian  formation  of  the  Bosphorus 
meets  the  Miocene  strata  in  old  Stamboul.  At 
the  time  of  the  first  shock  Professor  van  Millingen 
and  Professor  Ormiston  were  engaged  in  archaeo- 
logical work  in  the  dungeons  of  the  old  prison 
of  Anema,  under  the  old  walls  of  the  city.  Their 
escape  from  being  buried  alive  there  was  almost 
a  miracle. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  the  Armenian  troubles 
took  an  acute  form  in  the  massacres  in  the  Sassoun 
district  in  Armenia  and  were  followed  by  a  Euro- 
pean intervention.  The  Christians  in  that  part  of 
the  empire  had  long  been  a  prey  to  the  Kurdish 
tribes,  unprotected  by  the  Turkish  government; 
but  in  this  case  the  Turkish  troops,  under  orders 
from  Constantinople,  took  part  in  the  massacre  and 
plunder  of  the  Armenians,  and  the  work  of  their 
extermination  was  officially  commenced.  England 
called  upon  the  Powers  which  had  signed  the  treaty 
of  Berlin  and  guaranteed  the  good  treatment  of  the 
people  of  Armenia  to  intervene.  England,  France 
and  Russia  took  the  lead  in  demanding  redress  for 
what  had  been  done  and  such  changes  and  reforms 
as  would  secure  the  lives,  property  and  rights  of 
the  Armenians  in  those  provinces  where  they 
constituted  an  important  part  of  the  population. 
The  Turks  soon  discovered  that  England  was  the 

232 


TRYING  TIMES  IN  TURKEY 

only  Power  to  be  feared  in  this  question  and  that  the 
"Concert  of  Europe"  would  not  tolerate  any  inde- 
pendent action  on  her  part. 

Schemes  of  reform  were  devised  by  the  ambassa- 
dors and  discussed  with  the  Turks,  who  refused  to 
accept  any  kind  of  foreign  control  of  the  reforms 
demanded,  but  professed  all  manner  of  good  inten- 
tions. So  the  negotiations  went  on  month  after 
month,  while  the  political  excitement  in  the  coun- 
try steadily  increased  and  the  condition  of  the  Chris- 
tians grew  worse,  until  the  climax  was  reached  in 
the  great  massacre  of  1895-1896.  These  were  trying 
times  for  the  College,  where  it  required  all  our  energy 
and  skill  to  keep  the  minds  of  our  students  on  their 
work;  and  as  a  result  of  the  earthquake  and  the 
cholera  there  was  great  distress  in  the  city,  and  many 
well-to-do  families  were  reduced  to  poverty.  In 
August  the  destruction  of  a  town  in  Bulgaria  by 
fire  ruined  several  families  whose  sons  were  in  the 
College. 

I  was  not  present  at  the  Commencement  exer- 
cises in  1894.  I  was  in  bed,  attended  by  several 
doctors  who  could  not  agree  as  to  the  cause  and 
nature  of  the  sudden  attack  which  seemed  to 
threaten  my  life;  but  happily  they  did  agree  as  to 
what  should  be  done  for  me,  and  I  survived.  I  was 
well  in  the  morning,  though  tired  out,  as  I  generally 
was  at  the  end  of  the  year;  but  a  stormy  interview 
of  two  hours  with  a  half  crazy  student,  who  threat- 
ened all  kinds  of  vengeance  on  me  and  the  College 
and  had  to  be  quieted  down  before  the  public 
exercises,  very  nearly  finished  my  work  in  the 
College.   I  recovered  in  season  to  leave  Constanti- 

233 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

nople  for  Switzerland  the  evening  before  the  great 
earthquake,  and  thus  escaped  the  great  nervous 
strain  of  a  month  of  earthquake  shocks  which 
caused  the  death  of  hundreds  of  people. 

The  number  of  graduates  in  1893  was  13.  Of 
these,  all  of  whom  are  living,  6  are  Bulgarians,  3 
are  Armenians,  3  are  Greeks  and  1  is  English.  Of 
the  Bulgarians  1  is  a  merchant  in  West  Africa,  2 
are  lawyers  and  3  physicians.  Of  the  Armenians  1 
is  a  merchant,  2  are  or  have  been  teachers.  Of  the 
Greeks  1  is  an  instructor  in  Robert  College,  2 
are  in  business. 

The  number  of  graduates  in  1894  w^as  21,  all  but 
one  of  whom  are  living.  Of  these  8  were  Armenians, 
6  Bulgarians,  4  Greeks,  2  English,  1  American.  Of 
the  Armenians  4  are  merchants  2  teachers,  1  a  den- 
tist, 1  unknown.  Of  the  Bulgarians  3  are  in  the  civil 
service  in  Bulgaria,  2  lawyers,  1  a  teacher.  Of  the 
Greeks  3  are  merchants,  1  a  teacher.  The  English 
are  merchants.  The  American  is  a  civil  engineer 
in  America. 


234 


CHAPTER  XXI 

REORGANIZATION    OF   THE    BOARD    OF   TRUSTEES 
1894-189G 

Great  and  important  changes  took  place  during 
this  period  in  the  constitution  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  Mr.  Booth,  who  had  been  president  of  the 
Board  from  the  beginning,  died  in  December,  1895 ; 
and  Dr.  Coe,  who  had  been  secretary  from  the  first, 
had  to  resign  on  account  of  illness  and  died  in 
February,  1895.  Mr.  Hatch  and  Mr.  Vermilye,  the 
treasurer,  had  also  died.  Mr.  Kingsley  resigned. 
Dr.  Coe's  son,  Rev.  Edward  B.  Coe,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
took  his  father's  place.  Mr.  William  C.  Sturges, 
president  of  the  Seaman's  Savings  Bank,  became 
treasurer  in  place  of  Mr.  Vermilye,  Mr.  Cleveland 
H.  Dodge  and  Mr.  W.  T.  Booth,  the  son  of  the 
former  President,  joined  the  Board,  and  finally  Mr. 
John  S.  Kennedy  consented  to  become  the  President. 

Whatever  progress  the  College  has  made  since 
that  time  is  due  to  the  generous  support,  the  wise 
counsels  and  the  active  efforts  of  this  new  Board  of 
Trustees.  The  College  opened  in  1894  with  205 
registered  students,  of  whom  116  were  boarders. 
There  were  80  Greeks,  63  Armenians,  36  Bul- 
garians, 13  English  and  Americans,  13  others. 

The  thirty-third  year  there  were  221  registered, 
of  whom  132  were  boarders.  There  were  92  Greeks, 
69  xVrmenians,  37  Bulgarians,  8  English  and  Ameri- 
cans, 4  Turks,  11  others. 

235 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  College  the 
Greeks  outnumbered  the  Armenians  and  the  Bul- 
garians. The  Bulgarians  had  fallen  off,  owing  to 
the  establishment  of  government  gymnasia,  where 
students  were  educated  at  very  small  cost  to  their 
parents,  and  on  account  of  the  many  difficulties  put 
in  the  way  of  Bulgarians  coming  to  Constantinople 
by  the  Turkish  government.  Constantinople  was 
no  longer  a  political  or  a  business  centre  for  Bul- 
garia. The  Armenians  were  suffering  from  the  po- 
litical troubles  here  and  in  the  interior.  The 
Greeks,  on  the  other  hand,  had  come  to  realize  at  last 
that  this  was  not  a  Bulgarian  college,  that  it  was  no 
part  of  its  object  to  attack  or  weaken  the  Orthodox 
Church,  and  that  our  Greek  Department  offered  to 
them  everything  that  they  could  ask  in  the  way  of 
mental  and  moral  discipline.  They  had  come  to 
appreciate  the  real  value  and  importance  of  our  re- 
ligious instruction  and  our  efforts  to  build  up  the 
character  of  our  students. 

Professor  van  Millingen  was  absent  on  leave 
during  the  year  1894-1895.  Otherwise  the  Faculty 
was  unchanged.  The  following  year  the  College 
was  saddened  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Charles  H.  Dur- 
fee,  a  tutor  who  had  just  come  to  the  College,  but 
had  already  won  the  hearts  of  teachers  and  students. 
He  had  an  attack  of  typhoid  fever,  and  I  took  him  to 
Kennedy  Lodge.  It  seemed  a  mild  attack,  but  the 
second  week  he  suddenly  died,  when  Miss  Hart 
and  Mrs.  Washburn  were  both  with  him. 

Mr.  Hagopian  had  gone  to  America  for  his  health 
at  the  end  of  the  thirty-second  year  and  on  account 
of  the  Armenian  troubles  did  not  return  for  four 

236 


REORGANIZATION  OF  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

years.  lie  spent  most  of  the  time  studying  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  where  he  made  hosts  of 
friends.  He  had  never  had  anvthinjy  to  do  with 
revokitionists,  but  the  Turkish  government  was  in- 
discriminate in  it^  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  all 
Armenians  coming  from  Europe  or  America,  and  it 
was  thought  better  that  he  should  delay  his  return. 
His  stay  in  Scotland  fitted  him  for  the  position  of 
adjunct  Professor  of  Philosophy,  which  he  now  oc- 
cupies in  the  College. 

In  reading  the  correspondence  of  these  years  and 
the  following  one  I  am  surprised  to  find  that  through 
all  these  trying  times,  when  it  now  seems  to  me  a 
wonder  that  the  College  continued  to  exist,  we  kept 
up  our  courage  and  were  optimistic  in  our  hopes  for 
the  future.  We  suffered,  and  suffered  keenly ;  some- 
times it  seemed  more  than  we  could  endure,  but  it 
was  not  for  ourselves.  Our  friends  in  America  were 
alarmed  and  anxious  about  us,  and  Mr.  Kennedy 
offered  to  send  us  a  steam  yacht  upon  which  we 
might  take  refuge  in  case  of  need.  We  w^ere  very 
grateful,  but  felt  that  the  appearance  of  such  a 
steamer  anchored  near  the  College  might  of  itself 
create  a  panic  which  would  endanger  those  about 
us.  It  w^as  a  serious  question  at  one  time  wdiether 
we  ought  not  to  suspend  the  College,  as  Mr.  Robert 
had  advised  at  the  time  of  the  Bulgarian  massacres, 
but  so  long  as  the  Xurkish  government  manifested 
no  inclination  to  molest  any  one  within  our  walls 
we  felt  that  there  was  every  reason  why  we  should 
keep  our  doors  open. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  any  details  of 
the  events  of  these  two  years,  and  I  have  not  the 

«37 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

satisfaction  of  feeling  that  any  influence  of  mine 
modified  the  action  of  the  Turkish  government  or 
did  the  Armenians  any  good.  I  can  only  claim  that 
it  never  did  them  any  harm.  I  had  influence  in  Lon- 
don and  here  and  used  it  in  efforts  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  extermination  of  the  Armenians,  but  the  real 
defender  of  Turkey  through  all  these  horrors  was 
Russia.  No  doubt  the  Russian  government  looked 
upon  the  massacre  of  Armenians  in  Turkey  as  it 
has  since  looked  upon  the  massacre  of  the  Jews  at 
home,  as  a  matter  of  little  consequence,  with  which 
the  outside  world  had  no  concern.  She  made  it  a 
question  of  the  peace  of  Europe  that  there  should 
be  no  armed  intervention  here;  and  while  she  joined 
England  and  France  in  demanding  reforms,  it  was 
apparently  with  the  purpose  of  playing  into  the 
hands  of  the  Turks. 

After  the  Sassoon  massacres  and  the  oflScial  in- 
vestigation of  them,  which  had  no  practical  result 
except  to  turn  a  stream  of  charity  into  the  country 
from  England  and  America,  the  negotiations  here 
went  on  while  the  sufferings  of  the  Armenians 
steadily  increased.  In  the  autumn  of  1895  the  em- 
bassies encouraged  the  Armenians  here  to  break  the 
deadlock  in  their  negotiations  by  presenting  a  peti- 
tion to  the  Grand  Vizier.  They  asked  permission 
and  received  it,  but  it  was  revoked  at  the  last  minute, 
when  troops  were  sent  to  prevent  the  presentation. 
A  collision  resulted  between  troops  and  petitioners, 
which  was  followed  by  a  cold-blooded  massacre  of 
some  eight  hundred  Armenians  in  the  streets,  most 
of  whom  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  petition. 

As  such  things  never  happen  in  Constantinople 

238 


REORGANIZATION  OF  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

without  the  knowledge  and  approval  of  the  govern- 
ment, it  is  generally  believed  that  this  first  massacre 
of  Armenians  here  was  a  bold  and  carefully  devised 
plan  to  test  the  spirit  of  the  European  Powers,  be- 
fore entering  upon  a  general  slaughter  throughout 
the  empire.    If  it  proved  that  such  things  could  be 
done  with  impunity,  in  face  of  Europe,  under  the 
very  eyes  of  the  ambassadors,  it  -would  be  safe  to  go 
on  without  fear  of  intervention.    In  England  the 
Liberal  government, which  had  been  honestly  and 
earnestly  devoted  to  securing  the  rights  of  the  Ar- 
menians, had  fallen,  and  Lord  Salisbury  had  come 
into  power.    The  Turks  felt  that  it  was  time  to  test 
his  policy.   I  was  in  London  in  July,  on  my  w^ay  to 
America,  and  was  asked  to  see  Lord  Salisbury.    My 
old  friends  in  the  Liberal  government  could  not  have 
expressed  their  determination  to  put  an  end  to  the 
existing  state  of  things  in  Turkey  in  stronger  lan- 
guage than  he  did.    When  I  reached  England  on  my 
return  five  days  had  passed  since  the  massacre,  and 
I  went  to  the  Foreign  Office  to  see  Lord  Salisbury 
and  get  the  latest  news.    I  found  that  Lord  Salisbury 
was  in  France,  the  Under  Secretary,  Mr.  Curzon,  in 
the  north  of  England,  and  the  Permanent  Secretary 
in  Scotland.   The  whole  Foreign  OflSce  was  taking 
a  vacation.   I  went  to  see  Mr.  Chamberlain,  the  only 
other  minister  whom  I  knew,  and  he  was  in  Spain. 
It  was  a  w^eek  later  that  Lord  Salisbury  returned.    I 
had  come  on  to  Constantinople  and  did  not  see  him, 
but  I  know  that  he  finally  realized  the  gravity  of  this 
crisis  and  was  ready  to  send  a   fleet  to    Constan- 
tinople.    He  thought  that  it  w\as  too  late   to    act 
summarily  and  alone,  and  he  entered  into  commu- 

239 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

nication  with  the  other  Powers.  For  a  time  it 
seemed  as  though  something  might  be  done,  but 
Russia  finally  put  her  veto  on  it,  and  the  "  Con- 
cert of  Europe"  contented  itself  with  demanding 
the  immediate  acceptance  of  the  meagre  scheme 
of  reform  which  it  had  agreed  to,,  which  in  fact 
amounted  to  nothing,  and  which  did  not  delay  the 
general  slaughter  which  commenced  in  a  few  weeks 
and  went  on  for  a  year.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  ter- 
rible details  of  these  massacres  were  published  to 
the  world,  and  that  in  England  and  America,  and  to 
some  extent  in  France  and  Italy,  public  opinion  was 
roused  to  demand  some  form  of  intervention.  These 
publications  simply  exasperated  the  Turks  and 
failed  to  interest  the  "Concert  of  Europe."  What- 
ever plans  the  Sultan  had  he  carried  them  out  to  the 
bitter  end  without  fear,  only  tolerating  the  distribu- 
tion of  great  sums  of  money  which  were  contributed 
in  Europe  and  America  to  relieve  the  suffering  of 
those  who  survived  the  massacres. 

During  the  college  year  of  1895-1896  we  realized, 
as  no  one  out  of  the  country  could  realize,  the  signifi- 
cance of  what  was  going  on  in  the  interior,  and  tlie 
burden  of  the  people's  suffering  was  hard  to  bear; 
but  we  had  no  fear  of  any  massacre  in  Constanti- 
nople or  any  serious  danger  for  the  College.  Once 
only  we  were  made  to  feel  the  dangers  about  us. 
One  of  our  Greek  students,  who  had  friends  in  Pera, 
left  the  College  secretly  one  afternoon,  after  having 
been  refused  permission  to  go,  and  went  with  his 
friends  to  the  theatre.  They  were  insulted  by  a 
Turk  who  sat  near  them,  and  our  student  com- 
plained of  it  to  the  manager.   The  Turk  waylaid 

S40 


KING 


KKKDIXAM)   OK   IHLGARIA 


REORGANIZATION  OF  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

him  as  he  came  out  of  the  theatre  and  murdered  him. 
I  went  to  his  funeral  in  the  Greek  church  in  Pera 
and  was  startled  to  find  hundreds  of  armed  Cepha- 
lonians  (he  was  from  Cephalonia)  ready  to  escort 
the  procession  through  the  principal  streets  of  the 
city.  Thanks  to  the  precautions  taken  by  the  po- 
lice, no  one  interfered  with  this  demonstration.  It 
was  not  the  policy  of  the  government  to  stir  up 
trouble  with  the  Greeks  at  this  time. 

We  had  an  alarm  of  cholera  in  the  city  in  1895  and 
the  usual  quarantine,  which  deprived  us  of  a  visit 
from  our  dear  friends  INIr.  and  Mrs.  William  E. 
Dodge,  who  were  on  their  way  to  Constantinople, 
but  turned  back  from  Athens  to  escape  the  quaran- 
tine. 

Later  we  had  a  very  interesting  visit  from  Bishop 
Potter  of  New  York,  who  made  an  admirable  ad- 
dress to  the  students. 

Our  most  distinguished  visitor  was  Prince  Ferdi- 
nand of  Bulgaria.  He  had  at  last  been  officially 
recognized  by  all  the  Powers  and  had  come  to  visit 
the  Sultan.  He  came  to  the  College,  attended  by  a 
brilliant  retinue  of  Turkish  and  Bulgarian  officials 
and  guards,  made  himself  very  agreeable  to  the  Bul- 
garian students,  and  took  afternoon  tea  at  Kennedy 
Lodge,  where  he  was  kind  enough  to  say  that  Robert 
College  had  been  a  nursery  for  Bulgarian  statesmen 
and  he  hoped  that  it  would  continue  to  be  so.  He 
did  not  know  it,  but  he  drank  his  tea  out  of  a  cup 
that  once  belonged  to  his  grandfather,  then  Louis 
Philippe,  King  of  France. 

The  question  of  beneficiaries  became  more  press- 
ing and  more  difficult  during  these  years  of  political 

241 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

troubles  and  financial  distress.    From  the  founda- 
tion of  the  College  this  question  had  been  discussed 
more  than  any  other.     Mr.  Robert  never  favored 
our  aiding  as  many  students  as  we  did,  and  was  al- 
ways cautioning  us  about  it,  while  here  the  most  try- 
ing experience  that  we  had  was  the  constant  refusal 
of  applications  for  aid  of  this  kind.    We  were  agreed 
upon    certain     principles:    no    free    students;    no 
promise  of  aid  for  more  than  one  year;   no  benefi- 
ciary to  be  continued  whose  scholarship  and  con- 
duct were  not  of  the  best;   no  aid  to  any  but  those 
whose  parents  were  really  unable  to  pay  more  than 
one  half.    We  were  also  agreed  that  the  College 
ought  to  do  something  for  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich,  and  we  rejoiced  when  Mr.  Walter  Wood  of 
Philadelphia  and  the  children  of  Mrs.  Newton  and 
occasionally  others  furnished  funds  for  this  pur- 
pose ;  but  in  general  we  had  to  face  the  fact  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  aid  which  we  gave  had  to  come 
out  of  the  general  funds  of  the  College,  which  at  best 
were  not  sufficient  to  meet  our  expenses.   Almost 
every  year  we  have  voted  to  reduce  the  number  re- 
ceived, but  we  have  seldom  had  less  than  fifty  stu- 
dents (the  majority  day  scholars)  who  paid  only  one 
half  the  regular  charges.    It  is  much  easier  to  lay 
down  general  principles  than  to  apply  them  to  all 
special  cases.    So  long  as  w^e  had  room  for  such  ad- 
ditional students  and  they  did  not  necessitate  addi- 
tional teachers  and  they  fulfilled  our  requirements, 
there  were  always  special  and  exceptional  reasons 
why  this  or  that  one  should  be  received,  so  that  we 
generally  had  a  few  more  than  we  intended  to  re- 
ceive.  I  think  that  this  liberality  on  our  part  has 

242 


REORGANIZATION  OF  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

been  appreciated  by  the  different  nationalities  in  the 
East  and  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  they  support  the 
College,  and  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  while 
it  is  unwise  to  receive  free  students,  who  are  not 
likely  to  appreciate  what  costs  them  nothing,  in  aid- 
ing a  certain  number  we  are  simply  carrying  out  the 
purpose  for  which  the  College  was  founded.  Some 
of  our  most  distinguished  graduates  were  half-pay 
students.  Some  have  disappointed  us,  but  on  the 
whole  I  see  no  reason  to  regret  that,  out  of  our  pov- 
erty, we  have  aided  so  many  to  secure  the  advan- 
tages of  an  education  in  Robert  College. 

The  Commencement  exercises  in  1895  and  1896 
brought  together  great  crowds  as  usual,  with  many 
distinguished  guests  who  were  afterward  enter- 
tained at  Kennedy  Lodge.  The  government  had 
prohibited  all  such  gatherings  in  the  city,  but  they 
treated  our  case  as  exceptional  and  made  no  objec- 
tion to  it,  probably  because  the  American  minister 
presided  on  these  occasions  and  the  English  ambas- 
sador and  other  ministers  always  attended.  Still  we 
felt  it  necessary  to  take  every  precaution  against 
any  appearance  of  anything  like  a  political  demon- 
stration. We  had  no  address  by  any  of  the  guests, 
and  the  orations  were  all  in  English  or  French.  The 
only  really  trying  moment  on  these  occasions  was 
when  the  band  opened  the  exercises  with  the  Hami- 
die  March,  the  Turkish  national  air,  and  the  audi- 
ence was  expected  to  rise.  If  they  had  kept  their 
seats  this  would  have  been  a  political  demonstration 
beyond  our  control,  which  would  have  made  trouble. 
Happily  they  did  not. 
The  number  of  graduates  in  1895  was  15.     Six 

243 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

were  Bulgarians,  5  Armenians,  3  Greeks,  1  was  Eng- 
lish. Of  the  Bulgarians  3  are  teachers,  1  a  judge,  1 
in  diplomatic  service,  1  in  business.  Of  the  Arme- 
nians 3  are  merchants,  1  a  civil  engineer,  1  pastor 
of  a  Protestant  church  in  Constantinople.  The  3 
Greeks  are  in  business,  and  the  Englishman  is  the 
agent  of  the  Cunard  Steamship  Company  in  Con- 
stantinople. 

The  number  of  graduates  in  1896  was  6,  of  whom 
5  are  living.  Three  were  Bulgarians,  2  Armenians, 
1  a  Greek.  Of  the  Bulgarians  2  were  lawyers,  1 
a  teacher.  Of  the  Armenians  1  is  in  business,  1 
a  Protestant  minister.     The  Greek  is  a  musician. 


244 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE    GREAT    CONSTANTINOPLE   MASSACRE.    1896-1897 

In  the  summer  of  1896  everything  in  Constanti- 
nople seemed  to  be  quiet,  and  most  of  the  gentlemen 
connected  with  the  College  went  away  for  the  vaca- 
tion. Professor  Panaretoff  and  I  went  to  Austria  to 
the  Saltzkammergut.  We  found  nothing  but  rain 
and  floods  there  and  started  for  the  Carpathians; 
but  in  Vienna  Professor  Panaretoff  was  ordered  by 
his  doctor  to  go  to  Carlsbad.  As  I  was  left  alone  I 
went  to  the  Millennial  Exhibition  in  Budapest  for  a 
few  days  and  returned  to  Constantinople  on  Satur- 
day, August  22.  The  following  Wednesday  I  went 
up  the  Bosphorus  to  call  at  the  English  Embassy 
and  to  lunch  with  Mr.  Dimitroff  at  Buyukdere.  I 
returned  about  4  o'clock,  and,  soon  after,  some  one 
came  in  great  excitement  to  say  that  the  Turkish 
army  had  revolted,  plundered  the  Ottoman  Bank 
and  were  slaughtering  people  in  the  streets.  I  at 
once  took  all  possible  precautions  for  the  protection 
of  the  College  and  the  families.  It  turned  out  that 
the  news  which  I  had  received  was  incorrect,  but 
that  something  equally  terrible  was  going  on  in 
town.  It  had  been  a  beautiful  day,  and  several  of 
our  lady  friends  had  been  in  town  and  found  it  very 
difficult  to  get  back  through  streets  which  were  al- 
ready running  with  blood. 

What  had  happened  was  this.   About  noon  a  band 

245 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

of  Armenians,  most  of  them  from  Russia,  entered 
the  Ottoman  Bank,  with  arms  and  dynamite,  took 
the  employees  prisoners  and  barricaded  themselves 
in  the  building,  with  the  threat  that,  unless  the  am- 
bassadors at  once  secured  a  pledge  from  the  Sultan 
of  certain  reforms,  they  would  blow  up  the  bank 
with  dynamite.  To  finish  with  this  part  of  the  story, 
soldiers  soon  surrounded  the  bank,  and  negotiations 
began  with  the  captors  which  in  the  evening  re- 
sulted in  their  being  permitted  to  leave  the  bank,  go 
on  board  the  yacht  of  the  chief  manager  and  leave 
the  country  unmolested. 

Who  originated  this  plot  I  do  not  know,  but  it  is 
certain  that  the  Turkish  government  knew  all  about 
it  many  days  before,  even  to  the  exact  time  when  the 
bank  was  to  be  entered;  and  the  Minister  of  Police 
had  made  elaborate  arrangements,  not  to  arrest 
these  men  or  prevent  the  attack  on  the  bank,  but  to 
facilitate  it  and  make  it  the  occasion  of  a  massacre 
of  the  Armenian  population  of  the  city.  This  was 
to  be  the  crown  of  all  the  massacres  of  the  year,  one 
worthy  of  the  capitol  and  the  seat  of  the  Sultan,  a 
final  defiance  to  the  Christian  world.  Not  many 
minutes  after  the  attack  on  the  bank  the  bands  of 
Turks,  who  had  been  organized  by  the  Minister  of 
Police  in  Stamboul  and  Galata,  commenced  the 
work  of  killing  every  Armenian  they  could  find,  pro- 
tected by  large  bodies  of  troops,  who  in  some  cases 
took  part  in  the  slaughter.  Through  Wednesday, 
Wednesday  night,  Thursday  and  Thursday  night 
the  massacre  went  on  unchecked.  An  open  tele- 
gram was  sent  by  the  ambassadors  to  the  Sultan 
Thursday  night,  which  perhaps  influenced  him  to 

246 


THE  GREAT  CONSTANTINOPLE  MASSACRE 

give  orders  to  stop  the  massacre,  and  not  many  were 
murdered  on  Friday.  I  do  not  care  to  enter  at  all 
into  the  horrible  details  of  this  massacre  of  some  ten 
thousand  Armenians.  Very  few  of  them  were  able 
to  make  any  serious  resistance.  Very  few  women  or 
children  were  killed,  and  these  only  in  certain  quar- 
ters where  the  houses  were  attacked  and  looted. 
Many  Turks  looked  upon  the  whole  thing  with 
horror  and  protected  the  Armenians  in  their  own 
houses.  An  American  negro  sailor,  stranded  here, 
whom  the  Turks  took  to  be  a  Mohammedan,  saved 
one  house  full  of  refugees.  We  had  a  number  of 
Armenian  servants  in  the  College,  and  a  few  others 
took  refuge  there.  Thursday  night  there  was  a  mas- 
sacre of  Armenians  just  below  us  at  Bebec  and 
another  opposite  us  at  Candilli.  The  British  gun- 
boat came  and  took  off  the  British  residents  and 
offered  to  take  us,  which  we  declined.  Ruffians 
gathered  at  Hissar  to  massacre  and  plunder  the  Ar- 
menians here,  but  the  leading  Turks  drove  them  off 
in  the  early  evening.  We  had  five  Montenegrans  at 
the  College,  and  about  midnight  I  left  them  to  patrol 
and  guard  the  grounds,  w^ith  orders  to  wake  me  if 
any  attack  was  made  on  us.  We  had  already  buried 
what  we  could  of  our  valuables. 

Not  long  after  we  retired,  the  gate-keeper  came  to 
say  that  a  company  of  Turkish  soldiers  was  at  the 
gate  and  demanded  admission,  saying  that  they 
were  sent  by  order  of  the  Sultan  to  protect  us.  It 
seemed  wise  to  assume  that  this  was  true  and  admit 
them  to  the  grounds,  while  the  Montenegrans  still 
guarded  Hamlin  Hall,  where  all  our  Armenians  had 
taken  refuge.     The  colonel  who  came  with  them 

247 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

went  away,  and  the  captain  left  in  command  told 
the  gate-keeper  that  they  had  come  because  they 
knew  the  College  was  full  of  Armenian  revolution- 
ists whom  they  expected  to  capture.  Which  of  these 
statements  was  true  I  do  not  know,  but  it  was  a  very 
anxious  morning  for  us,  as  we  and  our  Armenian 
servants  were  at  the  mercy  of  these  soldiers,  of  whose 
real  mission  we  were  in  doubt.  The  next  day  these 
men  were  replaced  by  twenty  other  soldiers  under 
the  charge  of  a  captain  whose  family  lived  in  Hissar. 
The  government  claimed  that  they  were  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  the  College,  and  I  furnished 
them  with  quarters  in  the  back  part  of  the  study 
hall  building.  We  were  not  expected  to  do  anything 
else  for  them.  They  were  of  the  regular  army,  genu- 
ine Turkish  peasants  from  Asia  Minor,  quiet  and 
good  natured;  and  the  four  months  they  remained 
there  was  a  continuous  holiday  for  them,  as  the  cap- 
tain did  not  trouble  himself  to  drill  them.  They 
never  made  any  disturbance  or  gave  us  any  trouble 
of  any  account;  but  after  the  College  opened  in 
September  they  were  a  source  of  constant  anxiety, 
and  we  had  to  watch  our  students  with  untiring 
vigilance  to  see  that  they  did  not  get  into  conflict 
with  the  soldiers,  especially  as  we  had  a  number 
of  new  Turkish  students  along  with  some  sixty 
Armenians. 

The  massacre  of  the  Armenians  came  to  an  end 
on  Friday,  the  day  after  the  soldiers  came  to  the  Col- 
lege ;  but  the  persecution  of  them  which  went  on  for 
months  was  worse  than  the  massacre.  Their  busi- 
ness was  destroyed,  they  were  plundered  and  black- 
mailed without  mercy,  they  were  hunted  like  wild 

248 


THE  GREAT  CONSTANTINOPLE  MASSACRE 

beasts,  they  were  imprisoned,  tortured,  killed,  de- 
ported, fled  the  country,  until  the  Armenian  popula- 
tion of  the  city  was  reduced  by  some  seventy-five 
thousand,  mostly  men,  including  those  massacred. 
They  were  replaced  by  Kurds  and  men  of  other  wild 
tribes.  Since  that  time  it  is  very  difficult  for  an 
Armenian  to  get  permission  to  come  to  Constanti- 
nople from  the  interior.  The  poverty  and  distress 
of  those  left  alive  in  Constantinople  was  often 
heartrending,  and  many  women  and  children  died 
of  slow  starvation.  That  this  persecution  still  con- 
tinues in  a  milder  form  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the 
criminal  agitation  kept  up  by  a  few  revolutionists  in 
Europe  and  the  United  States,  whose  chief  business 
is  the  blackmailing  and  murder  of  their  own  people. 

Sir  Michael  Herbert,  the  British  charge  d'affaires, 
and  some  of  the  ambassadors  did  what  they  could 
to  stop  the  massacre  of  the  Armenians,  and  some 
of  the  consuls  aided  the  Armenians  to  escape  from 
the  country  after  the  massacres;  but  the  "Concert 
of  Europe  "  did  nothing.  It  accepted  the  situation. 
The  Emperor  of  Germany  went  farther.  He  sent  a 
special  embassy  to  present  to  the  Sultan  a  portrait 
of  his  family  as  a  token  of  his  esteem. 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  and  in  doubt  as  to 
what  worse  calamities  might  be  in  store  for  us,  it 
was  with  much  hesitation  that  we  opened  the  Col- 
lege as  usual  on  the  15th  of  September,  only  eighteen 
days  after  the  massacre.  Most  of  the  Faculty  was 
absent,  and  the  decision  had  to  be  made  by  the  presi- 
dent. It  was  a  terrible  responsibility  to  assume,  but 
it  seemed  to  me  that  we  must  go  on  and  trust  in  God 
to  protect  us,  as  we  had  done  at  the  time  of  the  Bul- 

249 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

garian  troubles.    We  were  surprised  at  the  number 
of  students  who  appeared  and  at  their  assurance 
that  the  College  was  a  safe  place.    The  whole  num- 
ber registered  was  200,  of  whom  130  were  boarders. 
There  were  77  Greeks,  61  Armenians,  38  Bulgari- 
ans, 8  English  and  Americans,  9  Turks,  7  others, 
about  the  same  number  of  boarders  that  we  had  the 
previous  year.  The  head  of  our  French  Department 
was  prevented  from  returning  by  the  fears  of  his 
wife's  family,  but  the  newly  engaged  French  tutor, 
Mr.  Reymond,  came  and   has  ever  since  been  at 
the  head  of  the  department.    Mr.  Pollock,  a  new 
American    tutor,    broke    down    in    health    in    the 
middle  of  the  year  and  returned  to  America.   The 
rest  of  us  survived  the  terrible  strain  of  months  of 
painful  anxiety  and  sympathy  with  suffering  which 
we  were  powerless  to  prevent  and  could  do  little  to 
alleviate,  but  at  the  end  of  November  my  health 
broke  down  so  completely  that  I  was  forced  to  spend 
three  months  in  Egypt  to  recruit.    As  at  other  times. 
Dr.  Long  took  up  the  burden,  and  I  was  not  missed. 
On  our  return  from  Egypt  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I 
improved  the  opportunity  to  stop  at  Beirut,  with  our 
dear  old  friends  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College, 
and   rejoice   with   them   in   their   prosperity.    We 
greatly  enjoyed  this  visit  and  our  stay  in  the  new 
Egypt  of  Lord  Cromer,  the  renewal  of  our  acquaint- 
ance with  the  American  missionaries  there,  and  our 
study  of  ancient  Egypt.    We  felt  sometimes  that  we 
never  wished  to  see  the  blood-stained  streets  of  Con- 
stantinople again. 

We  came  back  to  new  and  unexpected  troubles 
and  greater  anxieties  than  ever.    War  broke  out  with 

250 


THE  GREAT  CONSTANTINOPLE  MASSACRE 

Greece,  followed  by  an  order  for  the  expulsion  of 
all  Greek  subjects  from  the  empire,  and  the  fanati- 
cism of  the  Turks  was  roused  to  a  higher  pitch 
than  at  the  time  of  the  massacres.  Constantinople 
was  like  a  powder  magazine  which  might  be 
exploded  by  a  chance  spark.  Our  students  were 
intensely  excited,  all  of  them,  and  we  felt  that  the 
dreaded  spark  might  be  kindled  in  the  College  at 
any  moment.  That  it  was  not  was  due  chiefly  to 
the  untiring  efforts  of  the  professors  and  tutors  of 
the  different  nationalities  to  quiet  and  restrain  the 
students.  Five  of  the  Greeks  ran  away  to  enlist  in 
the  Greek  army,  but  the  Turkish  government  was 
considerate  enough  not  to  molest  our  Greek  stu- 
dents or  servants. 

This  war  was  an  act  of  supreme  folly  on  the  part 
of  the  Greeks.  The  government  was  driven  into  it 
by  popular  clamor  against  its  own  judgment.  It 
was  hardly  less  a  folly  for  the  Turks.  It  is  generally 
believed  that  the  final  decision  to  declare  war  was 
due  to  German  influence,  exercised  chiefly  through 
the  distinguished  German  officers  who  had  reor- 
ganized the  Turkish  army,  and  that  the  popular 
demonstrations  here  were  not  spontaneous.  The 
Greeks  had  no  army  to  meet  the  Turks,  who  would 
have  been  in  Athens  in  a  few  days  if  the  Powers  had 
not  intervened.  The  Turks  had  no  fleet  which  they 
dared  to  send  outside  the  Dardanelles,  and  in  the 
end  they  lost  Crete.  The  Greeks  might  have  had 
an  alliance  with  Bulgaria  and  been  supported  by  an 
insurrection  in  Macedonia,  but  here  also  it  was  the 
mob  which  decided  the  government  to  reject  this 
alliance.    It  was  well  for  Bulgaria  that  they  did. 

251 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

There  was  no  reason  why  they  should  go  to  war  with 
Turkey  at  that  time. 

Our  interest  in  the  Greeks  naturally  led  us  to  sym- 
pathize with  them,  but  we  could  not  sympathize 
with  the  spurious  patriotism  which  had  forced  the 
government  into  war,  and  which  has  so  often 
brought  them  into  trouble.  The  Christian  world 
owes  so  much  to  ancient  Greece  that  it  naturally  in- 
terests itself  in  modern  Greece  and  in  every  effort 
of  the  kingdom  of  Greece  to  improve  its  position.  It 
welcomes  every  advance  in  the  prosperity  and  en- 
lightenment of  the  nation;  but  sometimes  its  en- 
thusiasm is  cooled  by  evidence  that  the  same  spirit 
of  revolt  against  reason  which  ruined  ancient  Athens 
is  still  prevalent.  The  seventy-two  Greeks  in  the 
College  who  did  not  run  away  and  go  to  the  war 
were  not  less  patriotic  and  were  much  wiser  than 
those  who  went. 

When  the  end  of  the  year  came  and  found  us  all 
alive,  in  relative  peace  and  quiet,  after  the  long 
months  of  terror,  war,  massacre,  and  the  rage  of 
the  wildest  passions  about  us,  we  felt  like  making 
our  Commencement  a  day  of  thanksgiving;  but 
the  city  was  still  full  of  misery  and  distress,  and  the 
political  horizon  still  dark,  so  that  we  felt  the  need 
of  unusual  caution  in  arranging  our  programme. 
We  gave  special  importance  to  the  music  and  had 
one  of  the  principal  musicians  of  the  palace  to  take 
a  prominent  part.  Mr.  Riddle,  the  American 
charge  d'affaires,  presided,  the  audience  was  as  large 
as  ever  and  everything  passed  off  happily. 

The  number  of  graduates  was  14,  of  whom  13 
are  living.   Five  were  Bulgarians,  4  Armenians,  4 

252 


THE  GREAT  CONSTANTINOPLE  MASSACRE 

Greeks,  1  a  German  from  Russia.  Of  the  Bulgarians 
1  was  a  teacher,  1  a  judge,  2  in  civil  service,  1  died 
while  studying  medicine.  Of  the  Armenians  2  are 
merchants,  1  an  architect  in  New  York,  1  a  teacher 
in  Robert  College.  Of  the  Greeks  2  are  merchants, 
1  a  lawyer  in  Roumania,  1  a  physician.  The  Ger- 
man is  in  Russia. 


253 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE.    1897-1899 

The  reorganized  Board  of  Trustees  did  not  dis- 
appoint us.  When  the  reorganization  took  place 
it  seemed  almost  too  much  to  hope  that  a  new  day 
had  really  dawned  upon  us,  that  we  were  no  longer 
to  bear  alone  the  burden  which  we  had  carried 
for  so  many  years.  The  old  Board  was  sympathetic, 
gave  us  its  blessing  and  looked  after  our  funds  care- 
fully, but  it  was  so  constituted  that  it  could  do 
little  more.  I  remember  Dr.  David  B.  Coe,  Mr.  W. 
A.  Booth  and  Mr.  William  C.  Sturges  with  grati- 
tude and  affection.  They  were  real  friends  of  the 
College,  and  when  I  was  in  America  they  were  al- 
ways ready  to  listen  to  me  and  do  what  they  could. 
The  fact  that  they  were  so  well  known  and  uni- 
versally respected  was  a  guarantee  of  the  standing 
of  the  College  which  I  fully  appreciated;  but  the 
new  Board  assumed  a  responsibility  for  the  College 
which  was  an  unspeakable  relief  to  us.  The  Con- 
stitution was  modified  and  the  Board  enlarged.  At 
this  time  it  consisted  of  Mr.  John  S.  Kennedy,  Presi- 
dent, Rev.  Dr.  E.  B.  Coe,  Secretary,  Mr.  Frederick 
A.  Booth,  Treasurer,  Mr.  John  Sloane,  Mr.  Robert 
W.  De  Forest  and  Mr.  William  C.  Osborn.  The 
Board  not  only  listened  to  our  wants  and  appre- 
ciated our  needs,  but  undertook  to  supply  them 
as  far  and  as  soon  as  possible.   This  could  not  be 

254 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

done  in  a  clay,  but  the  work  of  enlarging  and 
strengthening  the  College  began  in  this  period, 
and  it  has  been  going  on  ever  since.  They  were 
undoubtedly  encouraged  by  a  happy  event  which 
occurred  in  the  summer  of  1898.  We  had  long  felt 
the  pressing  need  of  a  new  building  for  our  Prepara- 
tory Department,  which  we  could  not  dispense  with, 
but  which  could  not  be  managed  satisfactorily 
while  it  was  under  the  same  roof  with  the  College. 
I  went  to  America  that  summer  with  the  special  pur- 
pose of  trying  to  interest  Miss  Stokes  of  New  York 
in  this  need.  I  hardly  know  why  I  had  thought 
particularly  of  her,  although  she  had  visited  Con- 
stantinople and  interested  herself  in  the  education 
of  two  Bulgarian  students  here,  but  I  was  very 
hopeful.  When  I  reached  America,  to  my  great 
disappointment  I  found  that  she  was  not  in  the 
country,  and  I  came  back  with  a  heavy  heart. 
When  I  reached  Kennedy  Lodge  and  met  Mrs. 
Washburn  her  first  words  w^ere  that  she  had  a 
letter  for  me  that  would  interest  me.  It  proved 
to  be  a  letter  from  Miss  Stokes  in  which  she  said 
that  she  had  been  thinking  of  the  wants  of  the 
College  and  would  be  very  glad  to  put  up  a  build- 
ing for  the  Preparatory  Department.  I  could 
hardly  believe  my  eyes.  It  seemed  to  me  almost 
like  a  miracle,  and  when  the  building  was  finished  I 
sympathized  most  heartily  with  Miss  Stokes'  re- 
quest that  it  be  called  Theodorus  Hall,  the  gift  of 
God.  The  trustees  were  also  encouraged  by  two 
legacies  left  to  the  College,  —  five  thousand  dollars 
by  Mr.  W.  H.  Stickney  of  Baltimore  and  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  by  Mr.  Charles  F.  Wilder  of  Boston,  — 

255 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

and  they  made  arrangements  for  the  appointment 
of  a  Professor  of  Mathematics,  which  had  long 
been  a  crying  need  of  the  College. 

For  the  thirty-fifth  year,  1897-1898,  the  number 
of  students  registered  was  250,  of  whom  145  were 
boarders.  There  were  88  Greeks,  87  Armenians,  49 
Bulgarians,  10  Turks,  7  English  and  Americans,  9 
others. 

For  the  thirty-sixth  year,  1898-1899,  the  number 
registered  was  292,  of  whom  173  were  boarders. 
There  were  108  Greeks,  105  Armenians,  45  Bul- 
garians, 10  English  and  Americans,  14  Turks,  10 
others. 

The  increase  of  Greek  and  Armenian  students 
after  the  massacres  and  the  war  was  altogether  un- 
expected, and  we  had  to  refuse  a  number  of  appli- 
cants in  the  fall  of  1898.  We  could  not  accommodate 
more. 

One  of  the  pleasantest  experiences  of  this  period 
was  the  coming  here  of  President  Angell  of  Michi- 
gan University  as  American  minister,  who  was  not 
only  a  college  president,  but  a  scholar  and  a  states- 
man. He  and  Mrs.  Angell  were  the  most  delightful 
of  friends.  We  rejoiced  in  them  and  were  proud  of 
them  as  representatives  of  our  country,  which  he 
had  already  represented  in  China.  We  were  dis- 
appointed but  not  surprised  that  he  found  Michigan 
University  more  attractive  than  the  Sublime  Porte 
and  resigned  his  place  here  after  a  year  of  fruitless 
negotiations,  which,  as  he  had  been  in  China,  had 
not  even  the  interest  of  novelty.  In  fact  he  found 
that  the  Sublime  Porte  surpassed  the  Yamen  in  the 
style  of  diplomacy  common  to  both. 

^56 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

On  his  departure  our  old  friend  Mr.  Straus  re- 
turned to  the  post  which  he  had  occupied  under 
President  Clevehmd,  an  appointment  which  was 
supposed  to  be  agreeable  to  the  SuUan. 

There  was  also  a  change  in  the  British  Embassy. 
Nearly  all  the  ambassadors  who  had  been  here 
during  the  massacres  were  recalled  and  among 
them  Sir  Philip  Currie,  who  was  replaced  by  Sir 
Nicholas  O'Conor,  an  experienced  diplomatist,  a 
kind-hearted  and  agreeable  gentleman,  who  has 
been  most  friendly  to  the  College,  who  has  carried 
out  his  instructions  to  keep  peace  between  England 
and  the  Porte,  and  who  has  given  the  Sultan  end- 
less good  advice  which  has  seldom  been  followed. 
Since  the  massacres  we  have  lived  here  through  an 
era  of  German  influence  which  seems  now  (1907)  to 
be  waning.  It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1898  that  the 
Emperor  William  II  made  his  pilgrimage  to  the 
Holy  Land  and  visited  Constantinople.  It  is  be- 
lieved here  that  this  visit  cost  the  Sultan  more  than 
ten  million  dollars,  and  the  Turks  say  that  all  he 
got  in  return  w^as  a  marble  bust  of  the  Emperor  and 
of  his  grandfather.  He  was  not  welcomed  by  the 
people  here,  either  Turks  or  Christians,  but  he 
cemented  an  alliance  with  the  Sultan  which  freed 
Turkey  from  all  fear  of  the  *' Concert  of  Europe" 
and  in  return  opened  a  w^ide  field  for  German  enter- 
prise in  Turkey  and  for  the  development  of  German 
influence  in  Asia  Minor.  German  influence  here 
has  been  as  strongly  anti-American  as  it  has  been 
anti-English. 

In  1898,  in  the  time  of  the  Spanish  War,  we  had 
all  Europe,  except  England,  against  us  and  had  to 

857 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

listen  to  much  that  was  unpleasant  here  in  Con- 
stantinople, where  in  diplomatic  circles  it  was  uni- 
versally believed  that  we  should  be  ignominiously 
defeated.  Curiously  enough  the  Turks  were  on  our 
side,  and  rejoiced  over  the  defeat  of  Spain  as  a 
divine  punishment  for  her  treatment  of  the  Moors 
in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  It  was 
said  that  prayers  were  offered  in  our  behalf  in  some 
of  the  mosques. 

I  am  tempted  to  quote  here  from  a  letter  of  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  statesmen  in  England, 
which  I  find  among  my  papers,  written  in  Sep- 
tember, 1898,  apropos  of  the  feeling  in  America- 
*'The  change  of  sentiment  in  regard  to  foreign 
possessions  in  the  U.  S.  A.  is  not  more  sudden  than 
surprising  to  us.  Whatever  benefit  there  may  be  in 
it  for  Britain,  it  seems  tome  full  of  trouble  for  Amer- 
ica. Your  constitution  and  government  were  not 
framed  for  the  sort  of  work  which  oceanic  Powers 
ruling  half-savage  tropical  dependencies  have  to  do, 
but  I  see  that  good  men  in  America  believe  that,  be- 
cause it  has  come  in  the  dispensation  of  Providence, 
Congress  will  be  endowed  with  the  necessary  wis- 
dom for  it  and  it  will  even  lead  to  an  improvement 
in  political  methods  and  public  life.  England,  as 
you  will  see,  views  it  with  sympathy." 

For  ourselves,  we  regretted  the  war,  but  we  re- 
joiced in  its  victories  and  hoped,  as  this  gentleman 
says,  that  Congress  might  be  endowed  with  wisdom 
to  manage  our  new  possessions.  We  are  still  hoping. 
But  our  Congress  is  not,  thus  far,  made  up  of  men 
whose  knowledge  or  interests  fit  them  to  legislate  for 
a  world-power  such  as  we  have  become.     They 

258 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

are  chiefly  local  politicians  with  little  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  country  as  a  whole,  and  ignorant  of 
foreign  politics.  There  is  no  choice  for  any  nation 
now  but  to  be  a  world-power  knowing  how  to  de- 
fend its  own  interests,  or  to  be  dominated  by  the 
Great  Powers  of  Europe  and  exploited  in  their 
interests.  In  1896  we  could  not  send  a  gunboat  to 
Constantinople  to  protect  the  lives  of  American 
citizens  because  Russia  and  Germany  did  not  wish 
it.  Our  trade  with  Turkey  has  been  limited  for 
years  in  the  same  way.  From  the  standpoint  of 
Constantinople  it  seems  that  the  great  need  of 
America  is  more  international  statesmen. 

To  go  back  to  the  College,  it  was  in  1897  that  we 
had  our  first  public  field  day  for  athletics.  An  ath- 
letic club  had  been  organized  the  previous  year  by 
Mr.  Ostrander,  then  a  tutor  in  the  College.  We  had 
never  ignored  our  responsibility  for  the  physical 
culture  of  our  students.  As  far  as  our  means  al- 
lowed we  had  provided  gymnastic  apparatus,  and 
had  exercised  our  students  in  some  system  of  light 
gymnastics ;  but  our  chief  dependence  had  been  in 
encouraging  all  sorts  of  out-of-door  games  —  cricket, 
baseball,  football,  etc.  The  Athletic  Club  had 
rather  a  precarious  existence  for  several  years,  but 
it  has  grown  stronger  every  year,  and  its  annual  field 
days  have  attracted  much  attention  in  the  city  and 
developed  the  interest  of  the  students  in  athletics. 
Some  of  our  students  have  distinguished  themselves 
by  breaking  world  records  and  winning  interna- 
tional prizes.  For  myself  I  rejoice  that  the  interest 
in  athletics  has  not  yet  reached  a  point  where  it  over- 
shadows the  proper  work  of  the  College,  and  I  hope 

259 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

that  it  never  will.  I  believe  that  systematic  work  in 
the  gymnasium  is  a  far  more  important  means  of 
cultivating  the  physical  powers,  and  that  out-of-door 
games,  if  not  conJ&ned  to  a  chosen  few,  are  equally 
important.  Our  games  have  never  degenerated 
into  gladiatorial  shows.  We  have  sometimes  been 
troubled  by  international  rivalries  in  athletics,  but 
our  own  neutral  position  has  generally  enabled  us 
to  restore  harmony,  and  on  the  whole  the  conduct  of 
our  students  in  these  contests  has  been  praise- 
worthy. 

Our  chief  source  of  anxiety  in  1898-1899  was  in  re- 
gard to  our  water  supply.    We  talked  about  it  every 
day  and  dreamed  about  it  every  night.    At  times  we 
had  not  a  two  days'  supply  in  sight  simply  for  cook- 
ing and  drinking.    We  had  a  well  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  below  the  College  which  furnished  water 
for  other  purposes,  but  one  horse  pumped  this  dry 
every  morning  in  two  hours.    We  had  several  large 
cisterns  and  had  always  depended  upon  rain-water 
caught  on  our  roofs  for  our  supply.    We  had  been  in 
trouble  before,  but  this  year,  with  a  greater  number 
of  students  than  ever  before,   we  had  to  face  a 
drought  which  had  continued  for  two  or  three  years 
with  an  annual  rainfall  of  only  twelve  to  fifteen  inches. 
The  first  part  of  the  year  we  sent  our  students  to 
the  Turkish  bath  in  Hissar,  but  in  the  early  spring 
this  burned  down.    Then  the  well   tlu-eatened   to 
give  out,  and  we  saw  the  bottom  of  our  cisterns.    I 
arranged  to  have  water  brought  on  horses,  in  barrels, 
from  a  spring  two  miles  away.   The  evening  before 
this  water  was  to  begin  to  come  a  storm  came  down 
from  the  Black  Sea  with  a  deluge  of  rain,  and  that 

260 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

was  the  end  of  the  drought.  But  this  was  an  ex- 
perience which  it  was  not  safe  to  repeat,  and  Mr. 
Kennedy  came  to  our  rescue  and  furnished  the 
means  to  put  in  a  steam  pump  and  connect  us  with 
the  city  water  supply  in  a  building  which  we  erected 
for  this  purpose.  Our  supply  is  now  unlimited,  but 
we  still  depend  on  our  cisterns  for  drinking  and 
cooking  purposes. 

Professor  Anderson's  health  broke  down  in  1898 
under  the  strain  of  life  in  Hamlin  Hall,  where  he  had 
lived  with  his  family  since  a  similar  experience  had 
forced  me  to  withdraw  to  Kennedy  Lodge.  Since 
that  time  no  family  has  lived  in  Hamlin  Hall.  The 
family  rooms  are  now  used  as  the  college  hospital 
and  Miss  Hart's  apartments.  There  are  also  twelve 
teachers  living  in  the  building.  The  president's 
house  is  only  a  stone's  throw  from  Hamlin  Hall. 
After  a  year's  absence,  Professor  Anderson  returned 
to  the  College. 

Mr.  Hagopian  returned  to  the  College  in  Novem- 
ber, 1898,  and  like  other  Armenians  returning  to 
the  city,  although  his  papers  were  in  perfect  order, 
he  spent  twenty-four  hours  in  the  city  prison,  when 
by  our  intervention  he  was  set  at  liberty.  The  neg- 
lect of  a  friend  of  his  in  London  to  post  a  letter  to 
me  prevented  our  meeting  him  on  his  arrival.  If  I 
had  known  of  his  coming  on  that  day,  I  could  have 
saved  him  this  trying  experience,  through  the  inter- 
vention of  the  American  consul. 

In  March,  1899,  Lord  Rosebery  came  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  Mrs.  Washburn  and  I  lunched  with 
him  at  the  British  Embassy.  I  had  never  met  him 
before,  although  when  he  was  Foreign  Minister    I 

£61 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

was  in  correspondence  with  him.  I  had  a  long  talk 
with  him  on  Eastern  affairs  and  English  policy.  I 
found  him  quite  as  interesting  a  man  as  Lord  Salis- 
bury, though  of  a  different  type,  and  less  inclined  to 
express  decided  opinions.  He  related  to  me  one  or 
two  most  interesting  incidents  of  his  experience 
when  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

The  number  of  graduates  in  1898  was  14.  There 
were  6  Bulgarians,  4  Greeks,  2  Armenians,  1  Eng- 
lish, 1  Italian.  Of  the  Bulgarians  2  are  in  busi- 
ness, 1  a  judge,  1  a  lawyer,  1  a  teacher,  1  in  diplo- 
matic service.  Of  the  Greeks  2  are  in  business, 
1  a  lawyer,  1  an  engineer.  Of  the  Armenians  1  is 
a  mining  engineer  in  Mexico,  1  a  physician  in 
America.  The  Englishman  is  a  merchant;  the 
Italian,  unknown. 

The  number  of  graduates  in  1899  was  13.  There 
were  5  Greeks,  4  Armenians,  3  Bulgarians,  1  He- 
brew. Of  the  Greeks  2  are  in  business,  2  have 
studied  medicine  and  1  is  in  the  treasurer's  office 
in  Robert  College.  Of  the  Armenians  3  are  in 
business,  1  has  studied  law  in  America.  Of  the 
Bulgarians  2  have  studied  law,  1  is  in  diplo- 
matic service.  The  Hebrew  is  an  assistant  in  the 
physico-chemical  laboratory  of  the  University  of 
Leipsic. 

We  had  our  usual  crowded  and  distinguished  au- 
dience on  both  the  Commencement  days,  and  an 
admirable  address  from  Mr.  Straus,  who  presided 
in  1899.  The  subjects  treated  by  the  graduates  in 
their  orations  were  the  following:  The  Russian 
Woman,  The  Temptations  of  Poverty,  The  Social 
Problem,  Life  a  Conflict,  The  East  and  the  West, 

262 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE 

The  Value  of  Self-reliance,  La  Dette  de  1' Occident, 
La  Puissance  de  la  Volenti,  Les  Progres  des  Sciences 
et  la  Misere  Socialc. 

I  suppose  that  few  foreigners  have  had  a  better 
opportunity  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  people 
of  Asia  Minor  than  Sir  William  Ramsay,  and  I  quote 
here  what  he  says  in  his  "Impressions  of  Turkey" 
of  our  graduates:  *'I  have  come  in  contact  with 
men  educated  in  Robert  College,  in  widely  separated 
parts  of  the  country,  men  of  diverse  races  and  differ- 
ent forms  of  religion,  Greek,  Armenian  and  Protes- 
tant, and  have  everywhere  been  struck  with  the  mar- 
velous way  in  which  a  certain  uniform  type,  direct, 
simple,  honest  and  lofty  in  tone,  has  been  impressed 
upon  them.  Some  had  more  of  it,  some  less ;  but  all 
had  it  to  a  certain  degree;  and  it  is  diametrically 
opposite  to  the  type  produced  by  growth  under  the 
ordinary  conditions  of  Turkish  life." 


S63 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

DEATH   OF   DR.    HAMLIN.     1899-1901 

There  was  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  College 
in  Constantinople  the  thirty-seventh  year  which  de- 
mands special  attention.  Everything  was  quiet  and 
peaceful  in  the  city.  The  Sultan  completed  the 
twenty-fifth  year  of  his  reign  and  the  six  hundredth 
of  the  Ottoman  dynasty,  and  all  Europe  united  to 
congratulate  him. 

The  prosperity  of  the  College  continued  un- 
abated. The  number  of  students  registered  was 
297,  of  whom  176  were  boarders.  One  hundred  and 
twelve  were  Greeks,  108  Armenians,  39  Bulgarians, 
14  Turks,  13  English  and  Americans,  11  others. 

For  the  thirty-eighth  year  the  number  of  students 
registered  was  311,  of  whom  182  were  boarders. 
One  hundred  and  twenty-seven  were  Greeks,  108 
Armenians,  34  Bulgarians,  14  Turks,  12  English  and 
American,  16  others. 

The  number  of  students  for  these  two  years  repre- 
sented the  extreme  limit  to  which  it  was  possible  for 
for  us  to  go  in  receiving  students.  We  were  over- 
crowded in  the  buildings  which  we  had  at  that  time. 

In  the  spring  of  1900  the  trustees  of  the  College 
requested  me  to  go  to  America  and  consult  with 
them  as  to  what  measures  should  be  taken  to  meet 
the  immediate  needs  of  the  College  and  secure  its 
future  development.   This  was  the  most  important 

264 


DEATH  OF  DR.  HAMLIN 

step  ever  taken  by  the  trustees  and  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  development  which  is  still  in  progress. 
It  was  a  recognition  of  responsibility  on  their  part 
which  the  Faculty  welcomed  with  enthusiasm  and 
new  hopes  for  the  future.  At  their  suggestion  I 
started  in  season  to  attend  the  Ecumenical  Mission- 
ary Conference,  which  was  held  in  New  York  that 
year,  where  it  w^as  thought  advisable  to  have  Robert 
College  represented.  The  importance  of  the  College 
and  its  world-wide  influence  were  fully  recognized. 
I  presided  at  one  of  the  great  meetings  in  Carnegie 
Hall  and  spoke  on  different  occasions,  and  had 
many  opportunities  for  consultation  with  those  en- 
gaged in  similar  work  in  otlier  parts  of  the  world, 
most  of  whom  realized  that  it  was  the  founding  and 
the  success  of  Robert  College  which  had  changed 
the  policy  of  American  missionary  societies  and  led 
to  the  establishment  of  colleges  in  so  many  mission- 
ary fields.  I  found  these  personal  conferences  very 
profitable,  and  greatly  enjoyed  meeting  so  many 
great  and  good  men  of  various  nationalities  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  It  was  natural  to  compare  this 
meeting  with  the  Parliament  of  Religions  at  Chicago, 
in  which  I  had  taken  a  prominent  part,  and  I  did  so 
in  the  brief  address  which  I  made  at  the  last  meeting. 
They  were  not  antagonistic  in  spirit  or  purpose,  but 
the  more  definite  aim  of  the  practical  workers  of  the 
Missionary  Conference  was  certainly  more  inspiring 
and  seemed  to  promise  more  immediate  results. 

Soon  after  the  Conference  the  trustees  met  in- 
formally at  dinner  a^.  Mr.  Kennedy's,  where  I  had 
an  opportunity  to  present  to  them  the  views  of  the 
Faculty  as  to  the  present  conditions  —  the  needs 

265 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

and  the  prospects  of  the  College.  What  was  gener- 
ally agreed  to  there  was  afterwards  adopted  at  a 
formal  meeting  of  the  Board.  They  resolved  to 
carry  out  as  far  as  possible  the  recommendations 
submitted  by  the  Faculty.  They  resolved  "to  do 
everything  that  was  necessary  for  the  development 
of  the  College  on  the  model  of  the  best  colleges  in 
America,  to  make  it  thoroughly  up  to  date  in  its 
material  equipment  and  in  its  curriculum,  personnel 
and  spirit."  Professor  Lybyer  had  already  been 
appointed  professor  of  mathematics;  and  it  was 
agreed  to  appoint,  in  addition,  a  principal  of  the 
Preparatory  Department,  a  professor  in  the  Scientific 
Department  who  should  also  be  a  physician,  and  a 
college  treasurer  who  should  also  be  a  professor  in 
the  Commercial  Department.  It  was  also  decided  to 
erect  a  new  building  for  study  halls  and  recitation 
rooms,  a  gymnasium  and  three  houses  for  professors, 
to  supply  new  chemical  and  physical  apparatus,  and 
to  increase  the  library,  also  to  purchase  adjacent 
land.  As  all  this  would  increase  the  running  ex- 
pense of  the  College,  it  was  resolved  to  take  imme- 
diate steps  to  raise  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  to  increase  the  endowment.  A  building  for 
the  Preparatory  Department  had  already  been  pro- 
vided for  by  Miss  Stokes,  and  Mr.  Cleveland  H. 
Dodge,  at  the  meeting,  promised  to  put  up  a  gym- 
nasium. Mr.  Kennedy  promised  to  put  up  the  pro- 
fessors' houses. 

It  should  be  noted  that  this  action  of  the  trustees 
was  not  the  result  of  any  special  appeal  made  by  us, 
but  was  the  result  of  their  own  investigations  and  of 
their  own  purpose  to  make  the  College  worthy  of 

266 


DEATH  OF  DR.  HAMLIN 

the  position  which  it  occupied  in  the  East,  and  the 
reputation  which  it  had  attained  in  the  workl.  No 
one,  outside  the  Faculty,  can  fully  appreciate  what 
this  meant  to  uswho  were  on  the  ground,  who  knew 
what  the  College  had  done  and  might  do,  who  had 
had  a  part  in  all  its  trials  and  triumphs. 

This  was  not  the  only  evidence  which  we  had  of 
the  interest  which  was  taken  in  the  College  in  edu- 
cational circles  in  America.  I  received  most  cordial 
invitations  to  visit  colleges  and  universities.  Prince- 
ton and  Michigan  Universities,  Amherst  College, 
and  later  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  honored 
Robert  College  by  conferring  on  its  president  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  I  took  special  pleasure 
in  my  visit  to  President  Angell  of  Michigan  Uni- 
versity, who  had  so  greatly  endeared  himself  to  us 
when  he  was  United  States  minister  here,  and  to 
Williams  College,  whose  president  had  long  been  a 
faithful  friend  of  ours  and  had  done  no  little  work  in 
finding  tutors  for  us,  and  to  Amherst,  my  own  Alma 
Mater. 

In  August  we  arranged  for  a  gathering  at  my 
son's  summer  home  at  Manchester-by-the-Sea  of  all 
who  could  be  got  together  of  the  Hamlin  family. 
Dr.  Hamlin,  then  nearly  ninety  years  old,  was  there 
in  good  spirits  and  apparently  good  health.  He  was 
much  pleased  to  hear  of  what  the  trustees  had  done 
and  promised  to  do  for  Robert  College  and  rejoiced 
in  its  present  prosperity.  The  next  morning,  August 
8,  he  went  with  Mrs.  Hamlin  to  Portland  to  assist 
in  the  celebration  of  "Home  Week"  there.  That 
evening,  on  his  return  from  a  public  meeting,  where 
he  had  spoken,  he  complained  of  feeling  ill  and  soon 

267 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

died.  His  funeral  took  place  at  Lexington,  near 
Boston,  which  had  been  his  home  for  some  years. 
His  body  was  carried  to  the  grave  by  Armenian 
friends,  who  afterward  erected  a  monument  over  it, 
in  memory  of  what  he  had  done  for  the  Armenian 
people  in  Turkey.  After  our  return  to  Constan- 
tinople and  the  opening  of  the  College  we  had  a 
memorial  service  for  him  in  the  college  hall,  con- 
ducted by  Dr.  Long,  with  most  interesting  and  ap- 
preciative addresses.  There  was  a  large  audience 
of  his  old  friends  and  of  the  college  students.  It 
was  twenty-seven  years  since  he  had  been  in  Turkey, 
but  his  memory  was  fresh  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
had  known  him.  No  one  who  had  been  a  student 
under  him  in  the  Bebec  Seminary  or  Robert  College 
could  possibly  forget  him,  and  the  tradition  of  him 
still  lingers  in  the  city  among  those  who  had  not 
known  him  personally.  His  name,  attached  to  Ham- 
lin Hall,  is  familiar  to  all  our  students,  and  his  por- 
trait hangs  in  the  college  chapel.  Of  his  work  as 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  College  I  have  written  in 
the  earlier  chapters  of  this  book.  Those  who  would 
know  him  as  a  man  should  read  his  autobiography, 
"My  Life  and  Times."  It  was  an  interesting  fact 
that,  though  Dr.  Hamlin  was  a  typical  New  Eng- 
lander,  he,  like  Mr.  Robert,  was  of  French  Hugue- 
not stock. 

On  our  return  to  Constantinople  we  stopped  for 
a  few  days  in  Paris  as  the  guests  of  Mr.  Dimitroff , 
who  was  the  Bulgarian  Commissioner  at  the  Paris 
Exposition.  For  us  who  had  known  Bulgaria  as  a 
Turkish  province,  chiefly  inhabited  by  peasants 
who  were  practically  serfs,  a  country  with  no  sign  or 

268 


DEATH  OF  DR.  HAMLIN 

promise  of  modern  progress,  the  Bulgarian  exhibit 
was  the  most  wonderful  thing  that  we  saw.  It  com- 
pared favorably  with  the  exhibits  of  the  smaller 
states,  even  in  the  department  of  art,  and  showed 
that  the  progress  of  the  country  in  twenty  years  of 
freedom  had  been  unexampled.  AVe  could  not  but 
feel  that  something  of  this  progress  was  due  to  Rob- 
ert College. 

The  Commencement  exercises  in  1900  were  un- 
usual. The  plague  had  broken  out  in  Egypt,  and  it 
was  believed  that  cases  had  occurred  in  Constanti- 
nople. We  were  in  daily  expectation  that  we  should 
be  shut  in  by  quarantines,  which  would  make  it 
very  difficult  for  our  students  to  reach  their  homes. 
We  closed  the  College  a  week  earlier  than  usual  and 
excused  the  Seniors  from  delivering  orations.  Pro- 
fessor van  Millingen  and  Mr.  Lloyd  C.  Griscom, 
the  American  charge  d'affaireSy  made  addresses 
which  were  highly  appreciated  by  a  crowded  and 
distinguished  audience.  Mr.  Griscom  represented 
the  United  States  here  as  charge  d'affaires  for  about 
a  year,  and  won  golden  opinions,  not  only  from  all 
Americans,  but  from  the  representatives  of  foreign 
Powers,  and  was  specially  honored  by  the  Sultan.  It 
was  he  who  finally  arranged  for  a  settlement  of 
American  claims  for  indemnity  for  losses  during  the 
massacres.  We  do  not  wonder  at  the  successive 
and  rapid  promotions  which  have  made  him  Amer- 
ican ambassador  at  Rome.  He  was  followed  here  by 
Mr.  John  G.  X.  Leishman,  who  was  raised  to  the 
rank  of  ambassador  in  1906  and  still  holds  this  po- 
sition. 

One  of  the  curious  incidents  of  the  thirty-seventh 

269 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

year  was  the  arrest  of  one  of  our  Greek  students  and 
his  imprisonment  for  two  months  in  the  common 
prison  along  with  those  charged  with  being  incen- 
diaries, burglars  and  murderers.  The  only  charge 
against  him  was  that  when  he  arrived  by  steamer 
in  Constantinople  he  had  in  his  pocket  a  patriotic 
Greek  song,  with  music,  which  could  be  bought  in 
any  music  store  in  Pera.  We  begged  the  Minister 
of  Police  not  to  imprison  him  on  such  a  charge,  and 
he  sent  him  to  the  College;  but  some  of  the  officials 
knew  that  his  father  was  rich,  and  after  some  weeks 
made  a  formal  charge  against  him  of  bringing  in- 
cendiary documents  into  the  country,  the  penalty 
of  which  is  three  years'  imprisonment.  His  father 
had  to  come  and  bargain  with  the  judges  to  acquit 
him  w^hen  he  was  tried.  The  trial  was  really  a  farce, 
but  it  cost  the  father  a  round  sum.  Mrs.  Wash- 
burn and  Miss  Hart  went  to  see  him  several  times 
in  prison  and  became  so  much  interested  in  the  piti- 
ful condition  of  the  prisoners  that  on  our  Thanks- 
giving Day,  with  the  consent  of  the  officials,  they 
gave  them  a  good  Thanksgiving  dinner.  This  was 
after  the  release  of  our  student. 

The  thirty-eighth  college  year,  1900-1901,  was  one 
of  continued  prosperity  in  the  number  of  our  stu- 
dents and  the  work  done  by  them.  We  had  one 
addition  to  our  Faculty,  Mr.  Lybyer,  who  came  to 
take  charge  of  the  Mathematical  Department.  The 
one  cloud  that  rested  upon  the  College  was  the  fail- 
ing health  of  Dr.  Long,  and  it  was  arranged  that  he 
should  take  a  year's  vacation  in  America  with  full 
salary.  In  the  spring  of  1901  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
a  visit  from  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  with 

270 


DEATH  OF  DR.  HAMLIN 

Mrs.  Kennedy.  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
grateful  to  us  or  more  profitable  for  the  College, 
and  I  am  sure  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kennedy  not  only 
enjoyed  their  visit  and  appreciated  the  unsurpassed 
beauty  of  the  site  of  Kennedy  Lodge,  but  carried 
away  with  them  a  stronger  impression  of  the  impor- 
tance and  worth  of  the  College,  as  well  as  its  needs. 
The  work  on  the  new  building  for  the  Prepara- 
tory Department  was  begun  in  the  autumn  of  1900, 
although,  through  the  rascality  or  enmity  of  some 
officials  at  the  palace,  the  irade  which  was  issued 
had  been  lost,  and  the  new  one  obtained  after  much 
delay  was  so  ambiguous  as  to  be  worthless.  None 
of  the  accredited  authorities  of  the  Porte  or  the  city 
dared  to  take  the  responsibility  of  giving  us  permis- 
sion to  go  on,  but  they  were  all  friendly  and  had  no 
desire  to  stop  the  work,  and  we  went  on  unmolested. 
After  the  building  was  finished  we  got  the  proper 
official  irade  to  erect  it.  We  also  commenced  the 
improvements  in  Hamlin  Hall  and  bought  in  Paris 
and  Vienna  more  than  a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
physical  apparatus.  The  most  remarkable  event  of 
the  year  was  the  completion  of  the  sewer  from  the 
college  grounds  to  the  Bosphorus,  after  thirty  years 
of  negotiation  with  the  Turkish  authorities,  which 
enabled  us,  for  the  first  time,  to  complete  our  sani- 
tary arrangements  on  scientific  principles.  This 
also  was  accomplished  through  our  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  local  officials,  and  the  work  was  thor- 
oughly done,  not  only  to  our  advantage,  but  equally 
to  that  of  our  Turkish  neighbors,  as  we  built  up  and 
covered  in  what  had  been  an  open  sewer  through 
the  old  castle  to  the  sea. 

«71 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

The  most  interesting  events  at  the  Commence- 
ment in  1901  were  the  gathering  of  the  akimni  and 
a  letter  received  from  the  Greek  Patriarch.  For  the 
first  time  we  had  an  alumni  dinner,  at  which  more 
than  sixty  were  present,  a  large  number  considering 
that  our  alumni  are  scattered  over  the  world  and 
that  the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of  travel  prevent 
those  from  abroad  coming  to  Constantinople.  Two 
of  our  most  distinguished  alumni  had  died  during 
the  year,  both  of  the  class  of  1871.  Mr.  Slaveikoif 
was  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  in  Bulgaria  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  Mr.  Stoiloff  had  been  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  whole  history  of  the  prin- 
cipality, was  the  most  widely  known  of  Bulgarians, 
had  held  the  highest  offices  of  state,  was  a  patriot 
and  an  honest  man. 

We  had  no  speeches  at  our  Commencement,  and 
the  next  day  I  received  the  following  letter,  which 
was  also  published  in  the  official  organ  of  the 
church  by  the  Patriarch :  — 

to  the  most  noble  and  most  learned 
Director  of  Robert  College. 

Most  Noble  Sir  :  The  following  is  an  address 
which  his  Holiness  directed  me  to  deliver  yesterday 
on  my  visit  to  your  College,  which  I  now  have  the 
pleasure  to  transmit  to  you. 

"Having  come  among  you,  Honorable  Gentle- 
men, by  order  of  his  Holiness,  my  most  venerable 
Master,  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  say  that  his 
Holiness  has  always  followed  with  great  interest 
the  work  of  your  most  important  and  most  noble 

272 


DEATH  OF  DR.  HAMLIN 

institution.  Ilis  Holiness  duly  apjircciatcs  your 
labors  and  cares  that  the  education  which  you  give 
shall  make  good  citizens  and  moral  men,  who  will 
act  in  society  as  worthy  and  honest  members  of  it, 
loving  their  neighbors,  not  rendering  evil  for  evil, 
but  good  for  evil. 

"But  the  appreciation  of  his  Holiness  surpasses 
this  limit,  for  he  admires  and  praises  you  for  working 
in  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle;  doing 
good  without  any  afterthought,  which  might  bring 
forth  scandals,  you  respect  the  teaching  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  said,  *  Woe  unto  him  through 
whom  scandal  comes.'  Your  enviable  mission,  as 
is  proved  by  facts,  is  the  mission  of  making  good 
men,  not  of  corrupting  consciences :  to  make  good 
Christians,  not  perverts  from  the  church.  For  these 
reasons  his  Holiness  gave  me  the  fatherly  order  to 
express  to  you  his  thanks  and  praise  for  your  work, 
inasmuch  as  our  nation  on  account  of  unhappy 
circumstances  has  not  been  able  to  found  such  an 
institution  as  Robert  College."  Transmitting  to  you 
word  by  word  this  fatherly  message  of  his  Holiness, 
I  take  the  opportunity  to  sign  myself,  with  great 
respect  and  brotherly  love  for  you. 

The  Grand  Vicar  Chrysostome. 

There  were  18  graduates  in  1900,  of  w^hom  8 
were  Armenians,  5  Greeks,  3  English,  2  Bulga- 
rians. Of  the  Armenians  7  are  in  business,  1  a  civil 
engineer.  Of  the  Greeks  3  are  in  business,  1  an 
engineer,  1  a  teacher  in  Robert  College.  Of  the 
English  1  is  a  teacher,  2  are  in  business.  The 
two  Bulgarians  are  lawyers. 

273 


FIFTY  YEARS  [IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

There  were  11  graduates  in  1901.  Five  were 
Greeks,  4  were  Bulgarians,  1  was  Armenian,  1  was 
French.  The  Greeks  are  all  in  business.  Of  the 
Bulgarians  2  are  in  business,  1  is  a  lawyer,  1  a 
librarian.  The  Frenchman  is  in  business  in  Central 
Asia.   The  Armenian  is  in  business. 


274 


CHAPTER  XXV 

NEW   PROFESSORS   AND    NEW   BUILDINGS.    1901-1902 

These  recollections  of  Robert  Collefje  I  am  writ- 


'&' 


ing  in  what  was,  for  many  years,  Dr.  Long's  study,  in 
the  college  house  in  Roumeli  Hissar,  and  I  feel  it 
to  be  a  more  sacred  place  than  any  other  about  the 
College.  He  left  us  with  his  family  in  June,  1901, 
for  a  year  of  rest  in  America.  He  had  been  failing 
in  health  for  several  months,  but  his  physician  be- 
lieved that  a  sea  voyage  would  revive  him.  We  took 
him  in  a  chair  down  to  the  landing  stage,  where  the 
people  of  the  quarter  gathered  to  give  him  their 
parting  blessing.  The  American  minister  had  sent 
his  steam  launch  to  convey  him  to  the  steamship 
which  was  to  take  him  to  Liverpool.  It  was  a  sad 
parting  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  and  our  worst 
fears  were  realized.  He  reached  Liverpool  only  to 
die  there  in  a  hospital  July  28,  1901,  and  there  he  is 
buried.  He  had  been  a  professor  in  the  College  for 
twenty-nine  years  and  acting  president  whenever  I 
was  absent,  twice  for  two  years  at  a  time  when  I 
was  in  America  raising  money.  He  was  born  in 
December,  1832,  graduated  at  Alleghany  College, 
taught  two  years  and  came  to  Turkey  as  a  mission- 
ary of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  the  Bul- 
garians. It  was  through  his  influence  that  the  first 
Bulgarian  students  came  to  Robert  College,  and  no 
foreigner  has  ever  been  more  trusted  and  beloved 

275 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

by  the  Bulgarian  people  than  he.  He  came  to  Con- 
stantinople to  join  Dr.  Riggs  in  the  revision  of  the 
Bulgarian  Bible,  and  when  this  work  was  done  he 
was  persuaded  to  accept  a  professorship  in  Robert 
College.  No  man  ever  had  a  wiser,  more  loyal  and 
loving  associate  than  I  found  in  him,  and  much  of 
the  reputation  of  the  College  as  a  seat  of  learning 
was  due  to  his  broad  scholarship.  His  religious 
influence  was  that  of  a  man  filled  with  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  Even  his  Mohammedan  neighbors  re- 
garded him  as  a  holy  man.  Robert  College  was 
never  the  same  to  me  after  he  left  it.  Mrs.  Long 
died,  in  December,  1901,  at  Enfield,  N.  H.,  a  few 
months  after  her  return  to  America,  leaving  two 
daughters  who  still  reside  in  that  town. 

The  number  of  students  registered  the  thirty- 
ninth  year  was  308,  of  whom  181  were  boarders. 
There  were  131  Greeks,  98  Armenians,  29  Bulga- 
rians, 15  Turks,  14  English  and  Americans,  21 
others  of  11  different  races. 

So  far  as  the  College  was  concerned,  the  year  in 
Constantinople  was  a  quiet  and  peaceful  one,  al- 
though if  we  had  chosen  to  interest  ourselves  in 
political  affairs  we  might  have  occupied  ourselves 
with  much  that  was  exciting  and  much  that  was 
trying  to  the  people  of  the  country.  German  in- 
fluence was  dominant  at  the  palace  and  the  reign  of 
the  Camarilla  unchanged.  The  Armenians  were 
suffering  from  all  sorts  of  oppressions  and  the  Turks 
still  more  from  the  terrible  system  of  espionage 
which  left  them  no  peace  or  sense  of  security  day  or 
night.  The  storm  centre  was  in  Macedonia,  and 
incidentally  it  became  a  matter  of  interest  to  us  and 

276 


NEW  PROFESSORS  AND  NEW  BUILDINGS 

to  all  Americans,  throuf!;h  the  capture  of  Miss  Stone, 
an  American  missionary,  by  a  band  of  revolution- 
ists. The  treaty  of  Berlin,  Art.  23,  had  provided 
for  a  reformed  government  in  Macedonia;  but 
nothing:  had  been  done  to  carrv  this  decision  into 
execution,  and  the  condition  of  the  Christian  popu- 
lation was  worse  than  ever.  Large  numbers  of  the 
young  men  had  fled  into  Bulgaria,  and  a  revolution- 
ary organization  had  been  formed  there.  A  similar 
organization  on  a  vast  scale  was  formed  in  Mace- 
donia, with  its  headquarters  at  Salonica.  The  in- 
surrection broke  out  in  1901,  and  Miss  Stone  was 
captured  in  Macedonia  by  a  band  connected  with 
this  organization  in  the  autumn  of  this  year,  when 
traveling  on  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  perfectly 
safe  road  and  not  far  from  a  Turkish  guard  house. 
She  was  held  for  ransom.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
enter  into  the  details  of  this  unfortunate  affair  or  to 
criticise  the  management  of  it.  I  believe  that  it  is 
universally  acknowledged  that  it  was  sadly  mis- 
managed up  to  the  time  that  Mr.  Gargiulo,  Mr. 
Peet  and  Mr.  House  went  to  Macedonia  in  Decem- 
ber and  finally  secured  her  release  in  February,  lOO^. 
It  was  not  until  things  had  come  to  a  deadlock  in 
December  that  it  was  possible  for  me  to  do  anything. 
I  then  went  privately  to  Sofia,  saw  the  Bulgarian 
ministers,  four  of  whom  happened  to  be  graduates 
of  the  College,  and  the  military  officers  who  knew 
what  was  going  on  along  the  frontier,  also  graduates, 
and  the  chief  of  the  revolutionary  committee,  who 
had  never  been  in  Robert  College,  but  whom  I 
found  to  be  an  educated  gentleman  who  had  studied 
in  Paris.    I  saw  others  also  and  satisfied  myself  as  to 

277 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

what  needed  to  be  done.  I  returned  to  Constanti- 
nople, made  my  report,  which  was  telegraphed  to 
Washington,  and  my  recommendations  were  carried 
out.  It  is  my  belief  that  she  might  have  been  set  at 
liberty  within  a  few  days  after  her  capture  and  for  a 
small  sum  of  money  if  the  affair  had  been  settled 
quietly  at  the  outset.  But  whatever  mistakes  may 
have  been  made  here,  it  was  the  American  news- 
papers and  the  public  there  which  was  chiefly  re- 
sponsible for  the  long  delay  and  the  large  sum  paid 
for  her  ransom.  The  telegraph  kept  the  revolution- 
ists informed  every  day  of  what  was  going  on  in 
America  and  of  the  sums  raised  for  her  ransom. 
No  finer  work  has  ever  been  done  in  Turkey  than 
that  of  Mr.  Gargiulo,  the  first  dragoman  of  the  Le- 
gation, and  his  associates,  in  securing  her  release, 
in  the  midst  of  difficulties  which  seemed  to  be  in- 
surmountable. The  brigands  got  the  money  contrib- 
uted in  America,  and  it  is  generally  believed  that  it 
went  to  pay  for  the  arms  which  were  used  against 
the  Turks  the  following  summer. 

The  college  year  had  hardly  opened  when  we 
were  shocked  by  the  news  of  the  assassination  of 
President  McKinley  at  Buffalo.  At  the  request  of 
Mr.  Leishman  a  public  service  was  held  in  the  col- 
lege chapel  on  the  day  of  his  funeral,  which  was  at- 
tended by  all  the  American  officials,  by  the  staff  of 
the  French  Embassy  and  the  American  colony.  A 
formal  service  had  been  held  in  the  morning  of  the 
same  day  in  the  chapel  of  the  British  Embassy  at 
Therapia.  This  was  the  third  time  since  the  found- 
ing of  Robert  College  that  we  had  been  called  to 
mourn  the  death  of  a  President  of  the  United  States 

278 


NEW  PROFESSORS  AND  NEW  BUILDINGS 

by  assassination.  What  could  we  say  to  our  stu- 
dents in  view  of  such  crimes,  we  who  had  come  out 
here  professing  to  represent  a  higher  Christian 
civilization  and  the  blessings  of  a  free  government  — 
a  government  of  the  people  by  the  people  ?  We  told 
them  that  the  people  repudiated  and  condemned 
these  crimes,  that  they  did  not  disturb  the  stability 
of  the  government,  that  they  were  the  work  of  indi- 
viduals such  as  were  to  be  found  in  every  country ; 
but  in  our  hearts  we  knew  that  the  principles  which 
we  represent  here  had  been  dishonored  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  this  country  and  our  influence 
in  some  measure  diminished.  These  great  crimes 
have  confirmed  the  belief  of  Europeans  in  the  pic- 
ture of  American  society,  which  they  get  from  their 
newspapers,  which  represents  us  as  worshipers  of 
the  almighty  dollar,  given  over  to  lawlessness  and 
regardless  of  human  life,  with  little  real  respect  for 
God  or  man.  They  make  this  impression,  not  by 
inventions  of  their  own,  but  by  quotations  from  New 
York  newspapers.  Robert  College  is  a  standing 
protest  against  this  conception  of  our  country,  and 
we  defend  its  honor  as  best  we  can,  without  conceal- 
ing the  fact  that  the  conflict  between  good  and  evil 
is  as  fierce  there  as  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

We  sometimes  have  visitors  at  the  College  from 
America  who  impress  on  our  students  the  idea  that 
America  is  after  all  a  Christian  state  founded  on 
the  same  principles  which  we  are  inculcating  upon 
them.  Such  a  company  visited  us  one  Sunday  in 
March,  1902,  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  them,  and  we 
had  three  admirable  addresses  from  Dr.  Josiah 
Strong  of  New  York,  Dr.  Barton  of  Chicago  and 

279 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Dr.  Foote  of  Brooklyn,  in  place  of  our  usual  Sunday 
service.  In  general  the  crowds  who  come  in  excur- 
sion steamers  every  spring  have  but  a  day  or  two 
in  Constantinople  and  find  the  bazaars  more  inter- 
esting than  the  College,  although  we  exchange 
friendly  salutes  when  they  pass  up  the  Bosphorus, 
and  the  evening  of  their  arrival  they  often  hear 
an  address  from  Professor  van  Millingen,  on  Con- 
stantinople. 

The  year  1901-1902  was  a  very  important  one  in 
the  internal  development  of  the  College.  The 
professorship  of  mathematics  had  already  been 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  Professor  Lybyer.  At 
the  beginning  of  this  year  three  additional  professors 
w^ere  added  to  the  Faculty,  Professor  William  S. 
Murray  as  principal  of  the  Preparatory  Department, 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Ottley  as  resident  physician  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Biology,  Professor  George  S.  Murray  as 
treasurer  and  to  take  charge  of  the  commercial 
studies.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  Professor  George 
L.  Manning,  Ph.  D.,  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Physics,  and  Rev.  C.  F.  Gates,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  was 
appointed  Vice-President,  with  the  understanding 
that  he  should  come  to  the  College  after  a  year  and 
take  my  place  whenever  I  might  resign,  as  I  had  in- 
formed the  trustees  that  I  should  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  after  I  had  reached  the  age  of  seventy. 

In  making  these  appointments  the  trustees  were 
simply  carrying  out  their  purpose  "to  make  the 
College  thoroughly  up  to  date  in  its  material  equip- 
ment, in  its  curriculum,  personnel  and  spirit,"  a 
model  college,  not  necessarily  exactly  like  an  Amer- 
ican college,  but  adapted  to  its  environment.   It  is 

280 


NEW  PROFESSORS  AND  NEW  BUILDINGS 

needless  to  add  that  Professor  van  Millingen  and  I, 
the  old  stagers,  looked  upon  this  as  the  realization  of 
the  hopes  which  we  had  cherished  through  long  years 
of  effort  to  make  the  most  of  such  means  as  we  had, 
to  keep  the  lead  in  the  educational  development  of 
this  part  of  the  world.  The  other  members  of  the 
Faculty  —  American  and  native  —  welcomed  the 
dawn  of  the  new  day  with  equal  enthusiasm,  and 
our  alumni  w^ere  encouraged  to  believe  that  they 
would  never  have  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  their 
Alma  Mater. 

We  were  equally  fortunate  in  finding  men  for  our 
Turkish  and  German  departments,  for  which  w^e  had 
never  before  been  able  to  provide  in  a  manner  satis- 
factory to  us  or  to  our  students.  Tevfik  Fikret  Bey, 
who  has  since  been  at  the  head  of  the  Turkish  De- 
partment, is  a  man  of  high  character  and  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  scholars  in  Constantinople,  of 
whom  we  can  be  proud  as  an  associate. 

We  were  indebted  to  the  INIoravian  Brethren  at 
Herrnhut  in  Saxony  for  a  German  teacher  who  is 
in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  College, 
Mr.  Friedrich  W.  Kunick,  the  first  satisfactory 
German  teacher  that  we  have  ever  found.  I  once 
wrote  to  a  professor  in  the  Berlin  University  to  find 
a  man  for  us,  explaining  to  him  what  sort  of  a  man 
we  wanted ;  and  he  replied  that  there  was  a  great  de- 
mand for  just  such  men  in  Germany,  but  that  the 
supply  was  very  small. 

Our  wdiole  staff  of  teachers  at  this  time,  thirty- 
five  in  all  including  the  professors,  was  worthy  of 
the  high  ideal  wdiich  the  trustees  had  in  view^  for  the 
College,  many  of  them  among  the  most  promising 

281 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

graduates  of  the  College,  representing  many  nation- 
alities but  working  together  in  harmony  and  mutual 
goodwill. 

Theodorus  Hall  was  ready  for  occupation  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  and  we  had  also  applied  to  the 
Government  for  permission  to  erect  a  new  study 
hall,  a  gymnasium  and  three  houses  for  professors. 
We  had  also  completed  the  purchase  of  about  seven 
acres  of  land  just  beyond  the  campus,  for  which 
Mr.  Kennedy  had  furnished  the  money  when  he 
was  here.  Theodorus  Hall  was  paid  for,  and  Mr. 
Dodge  had  promised  to  build  the  gymnasium,  but 
where  the  money  was  to  come  from  for  our  greatly 
increased  current  expenses  and  the  proposed  build- 
ings we  did  not  know;  but  the  responsibility  for  the 
steps  taken  in  advance  had  been  assumed  by  the 
trustees,'  and  it  cost  me  no  more  anxious  days  and 
wakeful  nights  such  as  I  had  known  in  former 
years. 

Much  time  was  given  during  the  year  to  a  care- 
ful revision  of  the  course  of  study  in  both  the  Colle- 
giate and  the  Preparatory  departments.  One  year 
was  added  to  the  preparatory  course,  and  in  the 
Collegiate  Department  we  arranged  for  a  division 
of  the  course  from  the  beginning  of  the  Sophomore 
year  —  one  division  leading  up  to  the  degree  of  A.B. 
and  the  other  to  that  of  S.B.,  with  a  certain  number 
of  electives  in  each.  Except  in  the  matter  of  com- 
mercial studies,  which  may  be  chosen,  there  was  no 
departure  from  the  general  principles  which  had 
guided  us  in  former  years,  but  we  were  able  to  give 
new  importance  to  physical  culture  and  to  such 
studies  as  physics  and  biology.   We  introduced  no 

282 


NEW  PROFESSORS  AND  NEW  BUILDINGS 

university  methods,  but  we  did  what  we  could  to 
adopt  modern  methods  of  study  in  the  sciences. 
The  buildings  which  have  been  erected  since  have 
enabled  us  to  make  still  further  progress  in  this 
direction.  We  did  not  in  any  way  relax  our  efforts 
to  make  this  a  Christian  college  and  to  develop  the 
Christian  character  of  our  students.  We  believe 
that  the  primary  object  of  college  education  is  dis- 
ciplinary —  the  forming  of  character,  the  educa- 
tion of  the  moral  powders,  the  heart  and  will,  and  this 
in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  in  accord- 
ance with  His  teaching,  the  development  of  true 
manhood.  We  put  this  first,  while  we  would  neglect 
nothing  in  the  way  of  essential  physical  and  intellec- 
tual culture  to  make  not  only  good  men,  but  strong 
men. 

The  class  which  graduated  in  1902  numbered  13, 
of  whom  6  were  Armenians,  4  Greeks,  2  Bulgarians 
and  1  Austrian.  Of  the  Armenians  4  are  in  busi- 
ness, 1  a  teacher,  1  in  journalism.  Of  the  Greeks 
3  are  in  business  and  1  a  teacher.  The  Austrian 
is  in  business.  The  Bulgarians  both  continued 
their  studies. 


283 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

MY   RESIGNATION    OF   THE    PRESIDENCY.    1902-1903 

I  SPENT  the  summer  vacation  of  1902  in  America, 
and,  at  his  request,  I  went  to  Washington  to  see 
President  Roosevelt.  I  had  met  him  many  years 
before,  at  a  club  in  Boston,  when  he  was  interested 
in  the  reform  of  the  government  of  New  York  City, 
and  consequently  had  formed  some  idea  of  him  as  a 
young  man.  I  went  to  see  my  old  friend  Secretary 
Hay  first,  to  talk  over  Turkish  affairs  with  him,  and 
he  arranged  my  interview  with  the  President. 
When  I  reached  the  White  House  I  found  about 
fifty  people  in  the  reception  room  waiting  to  see 
him  —  Senators,  Representatives  and  petitioners  for 
all  sorts  of  favors  —  together  with  some  who  seemed 
to  have  come  as  they  would  have  to  a  zoological 
garden  to  see  the  elephant.  The  scene  was  not  new 
to  me,  but  I  was  more  than  ever  impressed  with  the 
absurdity  of  it.  It  seemed  to  be  a  relic  of  the  old 
idea  that  the  Caliph  should  sit  in  the  door  of  his 
house  or  tent  every  day  and  personally  deal  with 
every  case  that  any  one  chose  to  present  to  him. 
Even  the  Sultan  has  given  up  this,  although  the 
shadow  of  it  remains  in  the  Friday  Salaamlik.  In 
America  it  is  a  traditional  symbol  of  a  republi- 
can form  of  government;  but  it  is  not  an  evidence 
of  republican  good  sense  to  make  such  demands 
upon  the  time  and  strength  of  the  President.    On 

284 


MY  RESIGNATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENCY 

this  occasion  President  Roosevelt  appeared  sud- 
denly in  the  room  and  disposed  of  the  whole  crowd 
in  less  than  half  an  hour,  listening  and  speaking  to 
each  one  in  a  voice  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  all. 
After  this  I  had  a  long  talk  with  him  in  his  private 
office  on  our  relations  with  the  Turkish  government. 
He  talked  with  a  freedom  which  astonished  me  at 
first,  but  it  was  soon  clear  enough  that  I  was  ex- 
pected to  distinguish  between  what  he  said  as 
Theodore  Roosevelt  and  what  he  said  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  that  he  took  it  for 
granted  that  what  he  said  would  not  be  made  public 
by  me.  It  was  four  years  later  when  I  saw  him 
again  and  afterward  lunched  with  him  at  the  White 
House,  with  much  the  same  experience.  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing men  whom  I  have  ever  met;  and  President 
Roosevelt,  from  my  point  of  view,  which  is  European, 
is  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  in  the  world.  I 
know  of  no  statesman  in  Europe  who  ranks  above 
him. 

The  college  year  opened  in  September,  and  the 
number  of  students  registered  was  318,  of  whom 
190  were  boarders.  There  were  145  Greeks,  101 
Armenians,  28  Bulgarians,  9  English  and  Ameri- 
cans, 17  Turks,  18  others. 

The  relations  of  our  government  with  Turkey 
were  strained  at  this  time  on  account  of  concessions 
made  to  the  French  government  as  a  result  of  its 
naval  demonstration  and  occupation  of  the  island  of 
Mytilene.  These  concessions  granted  certain  privi- 
leges to  schools,  hospitals  and  other  institutions 
under  Turkish  protection  which  were  denied  to 

285 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Americans,  although,  after  having  been  granted  to 
the  French,  they  had  been  extended  to  English, 
German  and  Russian  institutions,  by  special  irades. 
It  was  our  right  to  enjoy  the  same  privileges.  The 
Turkish  government  did  not  deny  this,  but  would 
not  issue  the  irade  necessary  to  enable  us  to  profit 
by  the  right  as  they  had  done  for  the  other  Powers. 
Mr.  Leishman  pressed  this  question  as  vigorously 
as  he  could,  but  it  was  not  finally  settled  until  1907. 
Robert  College  was  not  directly  interested  in  it,  as 
our  position  was  established  by  our  original  charter 
given  by  Sultan  Abd-ul-Aziz;  but  the  prestige  of 
the  United  States  in  Turkey  was  at  stake,  and  most 
of  the  American  institutions,  including  the  Beirut 
College,  were  directly  interested  in  securing  these 
rights.  It  was  not  a  question  to  go  to  war  about, 
and  there  were  occult  influences  at  the  palace, 
probably  of  foreign  origin,  which  led  the  Sultan  to 
resist  all  Mr.  Leishman's  demands,  until  the  tables 
were  turned  and  he  had  something  to  ask  of  the 
United  States.  Great  credit  is  due  to  Mr.  Leishman 
for  the  skill  with  which  he  took  advantage  of  this 
opportunity,  not  only  to  settle  this  question,  but  to 
establish  our  position  here  as  entitled  to  the  same 
rights  as  the  European  Powers.  The  year  1903 
was  marked  by  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution 
planned  by  the  Macedonian  committee,  not  only  in 
Macedonia,  but  in  the  province  of  Adrianople.  The 
insurgents  w^ere  Macedonian  Bulgarians,  but  were 
not  supported  by  the  government  of  free  Bulgaria, 
or  by  any  European  Power,  and  they  failed,  al- 
though they  demanded  nothing  more  than  the 
execution  of  the  treaty  of  Berlin.    Russia  and  Aus- 

286 


MY  RESIGNATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENCY 

tria  intervened,  but  neither  of  the  Powers  wished  to 
have  the  Macedonian  question  settled  until  they 
could  settle  it  in  their  own  interest.  They  inter- 
vened to  maintain  the  status  quo.  This  is  not  the 
place  to  tell  the  story  of  the  horrors  of  that  year  or 
those  that  have  followed,  or  to  discuss  the  Mace- 
donian question.  It  need  only  be  said  here  that  one 
result  of  the  troubles  there  has  been  to  stir  up  a 
bitter  enmity  between  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians, 
not  only  in  Macedonia,  where  their  bands  have 
rivaled  the  Turks  in  barbarity,  but  wherever  they 
meet,  even  in  Robert  College.  This  conflict  be- 
tween them  is  as  foolish  as  it  is  unchristian.  It  has 
been  playing  into  the  hands  of  their  worst  enemies, 
Austria  and  Russia.  It  has  been  a  source  of  con- 
stant anxiety  to  us  in  the  College;  but  happily,  and 
to  the  credit  of  our  students,  it  has  not  led  to  any 
serious  disturbance  up  to  the  present  time  (1907). 
The  College  is  a  perpetual  peace  conference  be- 
tween all  the  nationalities  and  religions  of  this 
part  of  the  world. 

While  I  am  writing  (1907)  I  learn  that  the  two 
representatives  of  Bulgaria  at  the  Hague  Confer- 
ence are  General  Vinaroff  and  Judge  Karandjuloff, 
both  graduates  of  Robert  College,  of  the  classes  of 
1876  and  1879. 

Theodorus  Hall  was  opened  for  students  in 
September,  1902,  and  proved  to  be  admirably 
adapted  to  its  purpose,  and  up  to  date  in  all  its 
equipment.  It  accomplished  what  we  had  long  felt 
to  be  essential  —  the  entire  separation  of  the  younger 
boys  in  the  Preparatory  Department  from  the 
college  students.   Professor  William   Murray  w^ent 

287 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  live  in  the  building  with  the  boys,  and  he  and  Mrs. 
Murray  were  tireless  in  their  devotion  to  them. 
Mr.  Hagopian  had  been  appointed  adjunct  pro- 
fessor and  assistant  principal ;  and  he  assisted  in  the 
opening  of  the  school,  but  was  so  unfortunate  as  to 
break  his  leg  on  New  Year's  Day,  and  after  seven 
months  in  the  hospital  came  back  too  feeble  to  do 
much  work  for  a  year.  Two  American  tutors  and 
several  other  teachers  lived  in  the  building  and 
assisted  in  the  care  of  the  boys. 

We  commenced  work  on  the  gymnasium  in  the 
summer  of  1903,  although  no  progress  had  been 
made  in  securing  an  irade.  The  government  never 
interfered  with  the  work,  and  it  was  completed  and 
occupied  the  following  year.  Like  our  other  build- 
ings, it  is  of  blue  limestone.  It  has  been  a  great 
boon  to  the  College,  and  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind 
in  Constantinople  to  compare  with  it.  We  call  it 
the  Dodge  Gymnasium,  as  it  was  the  gift  of  Mr. 
William  E.  Dodge  and  his  son,  Cleveland  H.  Dodge, 
one  of  our  trustees. 

In  May,  1903,  we  welcomed  Dr.  Coe  here  as  a 
representative  of  the  trustees,  and  he  brought  Dr. 
Gates  with  him  from  Switzerland,  where  he  was 
spending  a  year  before  taking  up  his  work  in  the 
College.  The  visit  was  prompted  by  some  criticisms 
which  some  of  the  new  professors  had  made  upon 
the  administration  of  the  College,  and  was  a  new 
proof  of  the  desire  of  the  trustees  to  meet  their  re- 
sponsibilities here  with  a  full  understanding  of  the 
condition  and  the  needs  of  the  College.  Dr.  Coe 
and  Dr.  Gates  spent  three  weeks  in  Kennedy  Lodge, 
had  meetings  with  the  Faculty  and  private  confer- 

288 


MY  RESIGNATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENCY 

ences  with  the  professors,  teachers  and  others 
interested  in  the  College.  For  all  of  iis  it  was  not 
only  a  great  pleasure  to  have  them  with  us,  but 
most  profitable  to  us  as  individuals  and  as  a  Faculty, 
in  the  opportunity  which  it  gave  us  to  hear  their 
views  on  many  important  questions  and  to  discuss 
them  with  the  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 
So  far  as  I  know  there  was  no  exception  to  the 
general  satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  in  the  results 
of  this  visit.  It  was  a  happy  introduction  of  Dr. 
Gates  to  the  position  which  he  was  about  to  assume 
as  president  of  the  College. 

We  received  some  gifts  about  this  time  which  are 
worth  recording  —  the  first  from  a  Greek  gentle- 
man, Nicolaki  Bey,  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
in  Constantinople.  He  gave  us  his  house  in  Pera, 
which  we  have  since  sold,  and  the  income  of  the 
fund  goes  to  the  aid  of  beneficiaries.  Mr.  S.  M. 
Minassian  also  gave  us  a  house  in  Pera,  but  we 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  obtain  possession  of  it. 
Both  these  gentlemen  had  been  students  of  Dr. 
Hamlin  in  the  old  Bebec  Seminary. 

We  were  also  indebted  to  Mrs.  Frederick  F. 
Thomson  of  New  York  for  a  fine  pipe  organ  for  our 
college  chapel,  which  has  added  new  interest  to  our 
public  services,  and  to  the  British  government,  the 
British  Museum  and  the  Clarendon  Press  for  very 
valuable  additions  to  our  library,  secured  through 
the  influence  of  Professor  van  Millingen. 

The  Commencement  exercises  w^ere  held  two 
weeks  before  the  close  of  the  college  year  —  an 
experiment  which  proved  so  satisfactory  that  this 
arrangement  has  been  continued  ever  since.    Mr. 

289 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Leishman,  the  American  minister,  presided,  and  we 
had  the  usual  crowd  with  the  usual  distinguished 
guests.  The  most  interesting  event  of  the  day  was 
the  Turkish  oration,  delivered  by  our  first  Turkish 
graduate,  Houloussi  Hussein  Effendi.  In  form,  sub- 
stance and  delivery  it  was  the  best  oration  of  the  day. 
We  have  had  many  Turkish  students  during  these 
forty  years,  but  only  this  one  has  gone  farther  than 
the  Sophomore  class. 

The  whole  number  of  graduates  was  19.  There 
were  7  Bulgarians,  6  Armenians,  5  Greeks,  1  Turk. 
Of  the  Bulgarians  2  went  to  Germany  to  study,  2 
are  in  business,  1  is  in  the  American  consulate  at 
Batoum,  Russia,  1  in  the  diplomatic  service.  Of 
the  Armenians  all  are  in  business.  Of  the  Greeks 
4  are  in  business  and  1  in  the  service  of  the  British 
government  in  Macedonia.  The  Turk  is  a  teacher 
in  Robert  College. 

March  1,  1903,  I  completed  my  seventieth  year, 
and  I  had  long  before  determined  that  it  would  be 
my  duty  at  that  time  to  resign  my  place  as  presi- 
dent to  a  younger  and  better  man.  I  had  informed 
the  trustees  of  my  intention,  and  happily  they  had 
found  the  right  man  in  Dr.  Gates.  It  was  at  my 
earnest  solicitation  that  he  consented  to  allow  me  to 
suggest  his  name  to  the  trustees.  I  knew  of  no  other 
man  who  could  fill  the  place  so  well,  and  after  full 
consideration  the  trustees  came  to  the  same  con- 
clusion. At  the  request  of  Dr.  Gates  and  the  trus- 
tees I  retained  my  position  in  the  College  as  profes- 
sor and  continued  my  work  until  the  close  of  the 
following  year,  when  I  bade  farewell  to  Constanti- 
nople, as  I  believed  for  the  last  time,  and  spent  the 

290 


MY  RESIGNATION  OF  THE  PRESIDENCY 

next  two  years  in  work  for  the  College  in  the  United 
States.  In  1906,  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  Fac- 
ulty, I  returned  to  the  College,  and  have  since  been 
teaching  my  old  classes  here,  feeling  much  more  at 
home  than  I  did  in  America.  The  generous  con- 
tributions made  by  IVIr.  Kennedy  and  Mrs.  William 
E.  Dodge  while  I  was  in  America  have  given  new 
life  to  the  College,  transformed  the  appearance  of 
the  grounds,  renovated  Hamlin  Hall,  and  given  us 
the  beautiful  building  known,  at  Mrs.  Dodge's  re- 
quest, as  Washburn  Hall,  with  two  new  houses  for 
professors;  and  the  number  of  students  has  risen 
to  more  than  four  hundred. 

But  these  recollections  properly  end  with  the  close 
of  the  fortieth  year,  when  I  resigned;  and  what  my 
feelings  were  at  that  time  w^ill  best  appear  from  an 
extract  from  my  last  report  to  the  trustees  in  1903. 

*'I  look  back  upon  these  thirty-four  years  in  Rob- 
ert College  with  the  deepest  gratitude  to  the  trustees 
in  New  York  and  to  my  associates  in  Constantinople. 
The  trustees  have  given  me  their  unvaried  and  abso- 
lute confidence  and  support,  and  no  man  ever  had 
associates  more  loyal  and  true.    We  have  all  been  of 
one  heart  and  mind  as  to  what  the  College  ought  to 
be,  what  the  chief  end  which  we  had  in  view  in  our 
work,  and  each  one  has  been  wholly  consecrated  to 
it.   This  has  been  true,  not  only  of  the  professors,  but 
also  of  most  of  the  instructors  and  tutors,  many  of 
whom  have  done  as  good  work  as  any  done  in  the 
College.   This  has  been  the  secret  of  our  success. 
Of  my  personal  affection  for  these  men,  here  and  in 
America,  the  living  and  the  dead,  it  is  impossible 
for  me  to  write.    We  have  worked  together,  with  all 

291 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

our  hearts,  for  what  we  believed  to  be  the  good  of 
the  people  of  this  part  of  the  world,  have  helped 
them  in  every  way  in  our  power  and  have  sought  to 
inspire  them  with  the  true  Christian  ideal.  We  have 
made  no  secret  of  our  own  opinions,  but  we  treated 
theirs  with  respect  and  have  done  our  best  to  enter 
into  sympathy  with  their  life  and  their  habits  of 
thought.  In  return  our  students  and  the  various 
communities  which  they  represent  have  trusted  us, 
believed  in  us  and  given  us  their  sympathy  and  affec- 
tion. I  count  this  the  most  precious  reward  that 
they  could  give  us  for  all  the  work  that  we  have  done. 
To  all  these  dear  friends  in  the  East  and  to  those  in 
America,  England  and  elsewhere  who  have  given  us 
their  sympathy  and  support  I  owe  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude which  I  can  never  repay. 

"I  hope  that  my  wife  will  pardon  me  for  men- 
tioning her  in  this  report,  but  every  one  who  has 
known  the  inner  life  of  the  College  for  the  past  thirty- 
four  years  knows  that  no  small  part  of  my  success 
and  the  success  of  the  College  has  been  due  to  her 
untiring  devotion  to  all  its  interests,  her  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  people  of  different  races,  her  power 
of  winning  the  hearts  of  our  students  and  all  our 
neighbors,  and,  not  least,  her  deep  sympathy  with 
the  spiritual  aims  of  the  College." 


292 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE    WORK   OF   FORTY   YEARS.     18G3-1903 

I  CANNOT  say  that  I  or  my  associates  were  ever 
satisfied  with  the  work  that  we  were  doing  in  Robert 
College,  or  that  at  any  time  we  ever  realized  our 
ideal  of  what  it  ought  to  be.  But  I  feel  no  inclination 
now  to  complain  of  our  poverty  or  of  other  circum- 
stances beyond  our  control  which  hindered  our 
progress,  for  circumstances  equally  beyond  our 
control  have  given  the  College  an  influence  in  the 
world  far  beyond  anything  that  its  founders  could 
have  hoped  for.  Those  who  have  read  the  preced- 
ing chapters  of  this  book  will  understand  something 
both  of  the  adverse  and  the  favorable  conditions 
under  which  we  have  worked. 

At  the  end  of  forty  years  we  had  done  some- 
thing for  the  education  of  more  than  2500  young 
men  of  many  nationalities.  The  average  length 
of  time  spent  in  the  College  by  these  students  was 
about  three  years;  435  of  them  had  graduated 
with  honor,  after  from  four  to  seven  years  in  the 
College.  Of  these  144  were  Armenians,  195  Bul- 
garians, 76  Greeks,  14  English  and  Americans,  3 
Germans,  2  Hebrews,  1  Turk.^ 

In  the  early  history  of  the  College  these  boys  came 

*  In  the  Appendix  will  be  found  tables  giving  the  details  for 
every  year  of  the  number  of  students,  the  amount  received  from 
them  and  the  amount  of  the  current  expenses  of  the  College. 

293 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  us  as  very  raw  material  so  far  as  school  training 
was  concerned,  and  even  at  the  present  time  this  is 
of   a  very  miscellaneous  character,   generally  not 
including  any  knowledge  of  the  English  language. 
We  were  forced  to  have  a  Preparatory  Department, 
even  for  those  who  were  otherwise  advanced  enough 
for  college  studies.    So  far  as  home  training  was 
concerned  they  generally  came  with  habits  of  obedi- 
ence and  respect  for  their  elders  which  fitted  them  to 
submit  readily  to  school  discipline.    On  the  whole  I 
think  that  our  students  have  been  less  difficult  to 
control,  less  unruly  than  American  boys,  and  no 
hazing  traditions  such  as  disgrace  our  American 
colleges  have  been  established  here,  although  we 
have  had  occasional  examples  of  similar  brutality. 
I  have  been  more  and  more  impressed  every  year 
with  the  feeling  that  boys  are  by  nature  very  much 
the  same  everywhere  —  that  while  different  environ- 
ments and  varied  conventionalities  modify  them  ex- 
ternally, boys  of  different  races  are  at  the  bottom 
essentially  the  same.   I  am  often  asked  which  of  the 
nationalities  in  the  College  is  the  most  intelligent 
and   how  they  compare  with  Americans.     As   to 
the  different  nationalities  it  is  a  question  to  which 
there  is  no  answer.   None  could  be  given  from  refer- 
ence to  our  records  for  forty  years.   Our  best  schol- 
ars have  sometimes  been  of  one  nationality,  some- 
times of   another.     In  comparison  with  American 
students,  most  of  our  students  come  to  us  with  less 
of  that  unconscious  education  which  every  American 
boy  has  acquired  outside  the  school,  but  when  it 
comes  to  his  work  in  the  College  the  student  here  is 
equal  to  any  American. 

294 


f 


3BERT   COLLEGE 


THE  WORK  OF  FORTY  YEARS 

The  question  what  Robert  College  has  clone  for 
these  students  can  best  be  answered  by  the  extraor- 
dinary reputation  which  the  College  has  gained  in 
this  part  of  the  world.  We  are  known  by  the  charac- 
ter of  our  students  and  especially  of  our  alumni. 
We  have  been  sadly  disappointed  in  a  few  of  them, 
but  the  great  majority  have  done  honor  to  the  Col- 
lege, wherever  they  have  gone,  in  the  universities  of 
Europe  as  scholars  and  in  active  life  as  men. 

Our  theory  of  college  education  is  not  new.  In 
substance  it  is  as  old  as  Plato  and  Aristotle.  Its  chief 
end  is  the  highest  possible  development  of  character. 
The  principal  work  of  the  College  is  disciplinary.  It 
also  does  something  in  the  way  of  storing  up  in  the 
mind  of  the  scholar  a  certain  amount  of  useful 
knowledge,  but  much  of  this  is  soon  forgotten  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  knowledge  which  we  use  in 
practical  life  is  not  learned  in  college,  not  from  the 
teachers  at  any  rate.  The  greatest  scholars  are  often 
the  most  unpractical  and  helpless  of  men. 

The  most  important  work  of  the  College  is  to 
train  and  develop  the  physical,  intellectual  and 
moral  powers  of  the  student.  These  powers  exist  in 
him.  They  are  the  gift  of  God.  The  work  of  the 
teacher  is  to  draw  them  out,  to  cultivate  them,  to 
bring  them  into  harmony,  to  develop  them  sym- 
metrically so  that  the  lower  shall  be  under  the  higher, 
so  that  the  will  shall  habitually  choose  the  higher 
rather  than  the  lower  motive.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  most  of  our  actions  are  determined  by  in- 
stinct or  by  habit.  Youth  is  the  time  when  instincts 
may  be  modified  or  brought  under  control  and  when 
habits    are    formed    which   generally   go    with    us 

295 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

through  Hfe.  When  we  say,  then,  that  education  is 
disciplinary  and  designed  to  develop  and  mould  the 
character,  we  have  in  view  the  formation  of  those 
habits  which  will  determine  the  actions  of  after  life. 
This  discipline  may  be  directed  specially  to  the 
physical  powers,  as  where  athletics  stand  first  in  the 
eyes  of  the  student.  It  may  be  and  often  is  confined 
to  the  intellectual  faculties,  to  forming  habits  of 
study,  of  investigation,  of  reasoning,  which  will  de- 
velop mental  powers.  Neither  of  these  things  should 
be  neglected.  Habits  which  will  secure  good  health, 
with  strong  minds,  capable  of  comprehending  and 
mastering  the  problems  of  life,  are  precious  acquire- 
ments. But  when  we  speak  of  character  we  mean 
something  more  than  these  things  and  something 
far  more  important.  We  are  thinking  of  the  affec- 
tions and  the  will.  These  dominate  the  life,  con- 
stitute the  character  and  fix  the  destiny  of  the  man. 
The  discipline  of  these  powers,  the  training  of  the 
will,  the  formation  of  habits  which  will  bring  the  life 
into  harmony  with  the  will  of  God,  this  is  the  highest 
and  best  work  of  the  College.  Such  is  our  theory, 
and  we  have  done  our  best  to  live  up  to  it.  We  have 
been  so  far  successful  that  our  students  are  recog- 
nized everywhere  as  representing  a  different  type 
of  manhood  from  that  commonly  seen  in  the  East, 
and  some  of  our  alumni  are  striking  and  illustrious 
examples  of  this  type.  This  is  the  real  work  of  the 
College,  and  by  this  we  are  to  be  judged;  but  uncon- 
sciously and  incidentally  the  College  has  exerted  an 
influence  in  this  part  of  the  world  and  in  other  lands 
which  is  worthy  of  notice. 

It  has  revolutionized  the    policy  of    missionary 

296 


THE  WORK  OF  FORTY  YEARS 

societies  in  America  in  regard  to  education  and  led 
to  the  establishment  of  scores  of  similar  institutions 
in  different  parts  of  the  world.     In  Turkey  alone 
there  are  now  six  American  colleges  and  many  more 
high  schools.    It  has  led  to  the  founding  of  a  large 
number   of   government   and    national     schools    in 
Turkey.    This  development   of   education  was    the 
direct  result  of  what  it  was  believed  that  Robert  Col- 
lege had  done  for  Bulgaria,  and  the  progress  made 
has  been  marvelous.     These    government    schools 
are  not  what  we  might  wish    them  to  be,  for  the 
moral  training  is  wanting,  and  the  mental  discipline 
is  unsatisfactory;  but  they  have  their  value  in   the 
enlightenment  of  the  people.   The  schools  of  the 
Christian  nationalities  have  felt  the  influence  of  the 
moral  and  religious  training  in  Robert  College  and 
have  greatly  improved  in  this  respect.   This  view  of 
education  has  been  much  discussed  in  the  kingdom 
of  Greece  during  the  past  few  years,  its  importance 
recognized  and  Robert  College  held  up  as  a  model. 
The  Greek  newspapers  have  been  full  of  eulogies  on 
our  principles  and  our  work.    In   Austrian  Croatia 
and  even  in  Russia  there  have  been  evidences  of  our 
influence.   The  fact  that  the  heads  of  the  Oriental 
churches  in  Turkey  have  long  been  warm  friends  of 
Robert  College  is  an  evidence  that  we  have  had  an 
influence  with  them  in  removing  their  prejudices 
and  leading  them  to  realize  the  importance  of    a 
spiritual  training  for  their  young  men. 

We  have  also  had  some  influence,  not  so  much  as 
I  could  wish,  in  bringing  about  a  less  hostile  state  of 
feeling  between  the  different  races  in  the  East.  At 
least  they  meet  together  on  equal  terms  in  the  College 

«97 


/ 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

and  develop  a  certain  amount  of  mutual  respect, 
in  some  cases  of  warm  personal  friendship.  They 
learn  that  it  is  possible  to  work  together  for  a  com- 
mon end,  and  they  find  a  common  bond  of  sympathy 
in  their  relations  to  us.  We  have  had  some  remark- 
able illustrations  of  sacrifices  made  by  students  of 
one  race  to  help  those  of  another. 

We  have  certainly  had  great  success  in  winning 
the  confidence  of  our  Mohammedan  neighbors,  re- 
moving their  prejudices,  securing  their  respect  and 
friendship  and  giving  them  new  conceptions  of  Chris- 
tianity, as  well  as  of  America. 

The  Germans  think  that  this  and  the  other  Amer- 
ican colleges  in  Turkey  have  a  great  influence  in 
directing  the  commerce  of  the  country  to  America 
and  England.  There  is  no  doubt  some  truth  in  this. 
The  trade  of  Turkey  with  America  has  greatly  in- 
creased of  late  years,  and  the  spread  of  the  English 
language  is  an  advantage  both  to  England  and 
America,  but  we  have  never  presented  this  as  one  of 
our  claims  to  support. 

The  College  is  best  known  in  Europe  for  the  in- 
fluence that  it  had  in  building  up  a  free  state  in  the 
Balkan  Peninsula.  Fifty  years  ago,  except  to  a  few 
students  of  history,  the  Bulgarians  were  a  forgotten 
race  in  America  and  western  Europe.  We  did  not 
exactly  discover  them,  but  we  played  an  important 
part  in  making  them  known  to  the  Western  world 
at  a  time  when  they  most  needed  help.  Years  be- 
fore this  they  had  discovered  us,  and  through  the 
young, men  who  studied  in  the  College  they  had  come 
to  have  faith  in  our  wisdom  and  goodwill.  The 
most  important  thing  that  we  ever  did  for  them  was 

298 


THE  WORK  OF  FORTY  YEARS 

the  educating  of  their  young  men  to  become  leaders 
of  their  people  at  a  time  when  there  were  very  few 
Bulgarians  who  knew  anything  of  civil  government  in 
a  free  state. 

This  was  our  legitimate  work  and  naturally  and 
inevitably  led  to  our  doing  what  we  could  for  them 
after  they  left  the  College,  to  give  them  the  advice 
which  they  sought  in  their  new  work,  and  to  de- 
fend their  interests  where  we  had  influence  in 
Europe.  That,  in  this  way,  we  had  an  important 
part  in  the  building  up  of  this  new  state  is  a  fact 
known  to  all  the  world  and  best  of  all  by  the  Bul- 
garians themselves,  who  have  never  failed  to  recog- 
nize their  obligation  to  the  College  and  to  manifest 
their  affection  for  us  as  individuals. 

We  have  done  what  we  could  for  the  other  na- 
tionalities of  the  College,  and  they  understand  that 
we  take  a  deep  interest  in  everything  which  con- 
cerns their  prosperity  and  progress.  They  have  not 
had  the  opportunity  to  distinguish  themselves  in 
statecraft,  but  they  have  won  honor  and  success  in 
other  fields  of  labor,  both  in  the  East  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  world.  We  have  had  relatively  few 
Turkish  students,  only  one  who  has  graduated,  as 
it  has  been  the  policy  of  the  Sultan  to  forbid  Turk- 
ish students  attending  any  but  government  schools. 
Notwithstanding  this  prohibition,  we  now  have 
(1907)  more  than  twenty  Turks  in  the  College,  and 
its  reputation  among  enlightened  Turks  is  quite  as 
high  as  with  other  nationalities. 

The  burden  of  the  work  during  these  forty  years 
was  to  make  the  College  worthy  of  its  reputation 
and  to  meet  the  ever  increasing  demand  for  a  higher 

299 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

education.    As  I  have  explained  in  the  earlier  chap- 
ters of  this  book,  the  College,  at  the  outset,  was  a 
very  primitive  institution,  better  than  any  other  in 
the  Turkish  Empire,  but  lacking  in  most  of  the  ap- 
pliances which  a  college  is  supposed  to  possess.     It 
was  a  long  step  in  advance  when  we  moved  into 
Hamlin  Hall  in  1871,  but  many  years  passed  after 
that  before  we  were  able  to  improve  our  material 
conditions  to  any  extent.    We  devoted  these  years 
to  what  is  really  more  important  than  buildings  or 
apparatus,  to  the  inner  development  of  the  College, 
to   the  development  of  our  Faculty   and   staff   of 
teachers,  and  the  adaptation  of  our  course  of  in- 
struction to  our  environment.    Such  men   as   Dr. 
Long   and    Professor    van    Millingen   were   worth 
more  than  new  buildings.    But  the  time  came  when 
these  also  were  essential  to  our  work  and  to  our 
reputation.    We  had  already  been  forced  after  Mr. 
Robert's  death  to  seek  for  new  friends  in  America 
to  enable  us  to  meet  our  current  expenses.    In  the 
two  years  which  I  spent  in  America  on  this  errand,  in 
1880-1882,  such  friends  were  found;  and  in  1889- 
1891  we  had  to  appeal  to  them  again,  or  to  find  others 
who  would  lend  a  hand  to  save  the  College.    It  was 
twenty  years  after  the  erection  of  Hamlin  Hall  be- 
fore we  were  able  to  put  up  the  Albert  Long  Hall,  at 
the  same  time  that  Mr.  Kennedy  erected  Kennedy 
Lodge  for  the  president's  house.    We  made  other 
improvements  at  this  time  which  made  our  grounds 
and  buildings  attractive.    It  was  a  turning  point  in 
our  history  so  far  as  our  influence  here  was  con- 
cerned.   A  still  more  important  event  came  five  years 
later  in  the  reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 

300 


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THE  WORK  OF  FORTY  YEARS 

in  New  York,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  era.  After  Mr.  Robert's  death  the 
responsibility  for  the  management,  the  support, 
the  life  of  the  College,  rested  upon  the  Faculty  here. 
It  was  a  burden  too  heavy  for  us  to  bear  and  not  a 
desirable  arrangement  for  the  College;  but  we  put 
our  whole  lives  into  the  work  and  have  no  reason  to 
be  ashamed  of  the  result.  I  am  proud  of  my  asso- 
ciates here,  both  Americans,  natives  and  Europeans, 
whenever  I  think  of  it  —  of  their  self-sacrifice,  their 
tireless  devotion  to  all  the  interests  of  the  students 
and  the  general  interests  of  the  College,  their  wis- 
dom and  their  faith.  To  work  with  such  men  in 
such  a  cause  was  a  life  worth  living. 

The  reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  has 
given  new  life  to  the  College  and  been  followed  by 
the  erection  of  Theodorus  Hall  for  the  Preparatory 
Department,  the  Dodge  Gymnasium,  Washburn 
Hall,  the  renovation  of  Hamlin  Hall,  the  erection  of 
five  professors'  houses,  and  many  other  important 
improvements.  Equally  important  has  been  the 
inner  development  of  the  College,  made  possible  by 
the  appointment  of  five  new  professors,  additional 
instructors,  with  new  appliances  and  a  revision  of 
the  course  of  study.  Ail  this  work  was  not  com- 
pleted in  1903,  the  close  of  the  period  of  forty  years, 
but  it  was  all  initiated  in  that  period  and  has  been 
most  happily  carried  to  completion  under  the  wise 
administration  of  my  successor.  Dr.  Gates,  and  the 
Board  of  Trustees  organized  in  1895. 

The  demand  for  progress  and  development  w^ill 
be  as  inevitable  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  and  this 
will  mean  more  money  and  more  strong,  conse- 

301 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

crated  men  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  work.  No 
doubt  there  will  be  new  trials  and  difficulties  to  en- 
counter as  well.  But  Robert  College  has  been  a 
work  of  faith  from  the  beginning.  It  is  now  and 
it  will  be  in  the  future.  The  motto  on  our  college 
seal  is 

PER   DEUM   OMNIA 


302 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 


A.     Number  and  Nationality  of  Students  and  Graduates 

Each  Year 


Registered  Students 

Graduates 

2 

-a 

<u 

1 

c3 
O 

m 

a 
.2 
'3 

a 

a 

"5 

2 

o 

1 

■a 

OS 

o 

a 

_0J 

*S 

a 

a 
.2 
<s 

3 
« 

n 
O 

2 

&> 

O 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

20 

28 

51 

96 

102 

95 

96 

143 

218 

257 

237 

208 

191 

135 

128 

162 

209 

232 

259 

243 

215 

173 

182 

182 

16 

25 

44 

76 

79 

73 

66 

98 

164 

189 

172 

163 

152 

98 

93 

111 

149 

158 

173 

165 

142 

115 

120 

130 

0 

1 

20 
19 
14 
11 
35 
35 
80 
98 
87 
55 
54 
43 
35 
50 
74 
85 
94 
83 
82 
63 
64 
53 

0 
1 
9 
13 
16 
41 
38 
41 
40 
38 
43 
45 
33 
42 
50 
54 
77 
89 
105 
110 
91 
71 
71 
70 

2 
4 
6 
18 
33 
17 
22 
33 
34 
48 
43 
48 
39 
14 
11 
32 
27 
28 
24 
26 
29 
28 
37 
36 

18 
22 
16 
39 
34 
23 
25 
34 
64 
73 
64 
60 
65 
38 
32 
26 
31 
23 
37 
24 
13 
11 
10 
23 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

6 

1 

5 

8 

1 

5 

11 

15 

14 

8 

11 

7 

12 

9 

10 

22 

15 

20 

26 

1 

0 

1 

0 
0 
0 
0 
3 
7 
6 
3 
5 
3 
2 
4 
4 
7 
4 
8 
10 

1 

5 
0 
5 
6 
1 
5 
7 
7 
5 
3 
6 
4 
9 
5 
5 
14 
9 
12 
13 

0 
0 
0 
0 

1 

0 
0 

1 
1 

2 
1 
0 
0 

1 

0 

1 

1 

1 

0 
3 

0 

1 
0 
0 

1 

0 
0 
0 
0 

1 

1 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

1 

0 
0 

305 


APPENDIX 

Number   and   Nationality  of   Students  and    Graduates  — 

Continued 


Registeeed  Students 

Graduates 

1 

.2 

E 

O 

a 
.2 
S 

a 
< 

c 

•n 

a 
3 

09 

a 

2 

<u 

O 

"3 

s 

a 

a 

g 

< 

a 

as 

3 

7> 

o 

O 

25 

170 

113 

55 

60 

33 

22 

28 

12 

15 

1 

0 

26 

158 

104 

43 

52 

33 

30 

11 

3 

3 

4 

1 

27 

162 

104 

47 

45 

41 

31 

8 

4 

3 

1 

0 

28 

159 

104 

59 

41 

39 

20 

5 

4 

1 

0 

0 

29 

194 

130 

70 

52 

47 

25 

8 

4 

3 

1 

0 

30 

203 

143 

73 

6Q 

46 

24 

13 

3 

6 

3 

1 

31 

200 

123 

68 

44 

65 

23 

21 

8 

6 

4 

3 

32 

205 

116 

63 

36 

80 

26 

15 

5 

6 

3 

1 

33 

221 

132 

69 

37 

92 

23 

6 

2 

3 

1 

0 

34 

200 

130 

61 

38 

77 

24 

14 

4 

5 

4 

1 

35 

250 

145 

87 

49 

88 

26 

14 

2 

6 

4 

2 

36 

292 

173 

105 

45 

108 

34 

13 

4 

3 

5 

1 

37 

297 

176 

108 

39 

112 

38 

18 

8 

2 

5 

3 

38 

311 

182 

108 

34 

127 

42 

11 

1 

4 

5 

1 

39 

308 

181 

98 

29 

131 

61 

13 

6 

2 

4 

1 

40 

318 

190 

101 

28 

145 

45 

19 

6 

7 

5 

1 

41 

320 

188 

94 

23 

168 

35 

17 

6 

1 

9 

1 

42 

342 

222 

97 

34 

171 

40 

10 

5 

1 

4 

0 

43 

373 

257 

88 

37 

195 

53 

12 

6 

0 

6 

0 

306 


APPENDIX 


B.     Receipts  from  Students,  and  Expenses  at  Constanti- 
nople, Each  Year 


Expenses  at  Constantinople 

Year 

Received  from  Students 

Not  including  Building,  Improve- 
ments, or  Apparatus 

1 

$2,578 

$5,181 

2 

3,845 

5,630 

3 

5,808 

6,107 

4 
'5 

7,858 

9,111 

'6 

7 

10,300 

11,052 

8 

14,869 

13,939 

9 

26,906 

22,308 

10 

31,548 

27,874 

11 

26,364 

28,380 

12 

24,697 

26,778 

13 

20,014 

24,648 

14 

14,780 

20,490 

15 

14,511 

18,981 

16 

16,746 

21,890 

17 

23,720 

25,647 

18 

25,280 

28,350 

19 

29,493 

32,371 

20 

29,020 

34,185 

21 

24,535 

32,792 

22 

19,144 

26,131 

23 

17,384 

25,694 

24 

20,552 

28,164 

25 

18,889 

29,488 

26 

16,227 

28,987 

27 

15,891 

26,004 

28 

16,033 

26,998 

29 

20,227 

30,088 

30 

22,426 

30,728 

*  The  accounts  of  these  two  years  cannot  be  found  in  Constantinople. 

307 


APPENDIX 


Receipts  and  Expenses  —  Continued 


Expenses  at  Constantinople 

Yeab 

Received  fbom  Students 

Not  including  Building,  Improve- 
ments, or  Apparatus 

31 

$19,919 

$36,169 

32 

20,845 

31,442 

33 

24,987 

36,753 

34 

24,070 

35,640 

35 

28,300 

36,682 

36 

33,117 

40,731 

37 

32,577 

42,539 

38 

34,636 

43,670 

39 

34,295 

48,302 

40 

37,028 

59,006 

41 

37,434 

59,457 

42 

45,320 

60,031 

43 

50,782 

68,189 

The  Faculty  of  the  College,  Forty-fifth  Year, 
1907-1908 


President,  Caleb  Frank  Gates,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  appoi 

George  Washburn,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  appo 

Hagopos  H.  Djedjizian,  A.  M.,  appo: 

Stephan  Panaretoff,  A.  M.,  appoi 

Alexander  van  Millingen,  D.  D.,  appo: 

Charles  Anderson,  D.  D.,  appo 

Louisos  Eliou,  Ph.  D.,  appo 

William  T.  Onniston,  A.  M.,  appo: 

Ion  E.  Dwyer,  A.  M.,  appo 

Bertram  V.  Post,  M.  D.,  appo 

George  L.  Manning,  Ph.  D.,  appo; 

Abraham  D.  Hagopian,  A.  M.,  appo 

George  H.  Huntington,  A.  M.,  appo: 
(One  vacancy.) 

308 


nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 
nted 


1903. 
1869. 
1872. 
1877. 
1878. 
1888. 
1890. 
1892. 
1904. 
1904. 
1905. 
1905. 
1907. 


APPENDIX 


PERMANENT   INSTBUCTORS 


Peter  Voicoflf,  A.  M., 
Constas  Constantinou,  Ph.  D., 
Henri  Auguste  Ilcymond, 
Tevfik  Fikret  Bey, 
Stavros  S.  Emmanuel,  A.  M., 
Caspar  H.  Tuysizian,  A.  B., 
Friedrich  W.  Kunick, 
(14  other  teachers.) 


appointed  1883 
appointed  1895. 
ai)pointed  1896. 
appointed  1900. 
appointed  1893. 
appointed  1897. 
appointed  1902. 


D.     Former  Members  of  the  Faculty 

*  Cyrus  Hamlin,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President,  1863-1877. 

*  George  A.  Perkins,  A.  M.,  1863-1865. 

*  Henry  A.  Schauffler,  D.  D.,  1863-1865. 
John  A.  Paine,  Ph.  D.,  1867-1869. 

*  Albert  L.  Long,  D.  D.,  1872-1901. 
Edwin  A.  Grosvenor,  LL.  D.,  1872-1890. 
George  S.  Murray,  A.  M.,  1901-1904. 

*  Charles  W.  Ottley,  M.  D.,  1901-1904. 
A.  H.  Lybyer,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.,  1900-1907. 
William  S.  Murray,  M.  S.,  1901-1907. 


E.     Former  American  Tutors 


Harry  H.  Barnum, 

Ward  M.  Beckwith,  M.  D., 

Philip  M.  Brown, 

Alvey  M.  Carter, 

Rev.  W.  V.  W.  Davis,  D.  D., 

Prof.  Frank  L.  Duley, 

Charles  H.  Durfee, 

George  E.  Eddy, 

Handford  W.  Edson, 

Judge  W.  T.  Forbes, 

Francis  E.  Garlough, 


University  of  Chicago. 

Westmoreland,  N.  Y. 

U.  S.  Embassy,  Constantinople 

Art  Museum,  Boston,  Mass. 

Pittsfield,  Mass. 

Mount  Hermon,  Mass. 

Deceased. 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Worcester,  Mass. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Deceased. 
309 


APPENDIX 


Miles  T.  Hand, 
John  H.  Haynes, 
Frederick  M.  Herrick,  Esq., 
Winthrop  H.  Hopkins, 
Prof.  Arthur  S.  Hoyt,  D.  D., 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Hoyt,  D.  D., 
Rev.  George  E.  Ladd, 
Rev.  Clement  C.  Martin, 
Rev.  Eneas  McLean, 
Rev.  D.  S.  Muzzy, 
Prof.  Charles  Nash,  D.  D., 
Rev.  Luther  A.  Ostrander,  D.  D., 
Rev.  Leroy  F.  Ostrander, 
^rof.  George  E.  Pollock, 
Lansing  L.  Porter, 
Rev.  Lewis  T.  Reed, 
Rev.  Orville  Reed, 
Rev.  C.  S.  Richardson,  D.  D., 
Rev.  Charles  T.  Riggs, 
Rev.  James  Rodger, 
Albert  H.  Rodgers,  M.  D., 
Rev.  C.  A.  Savage,  D.  D., 
Rev.  H.  K.  Sanborne, 
Rev.  Carl  W.  Scovel, 
Prof.  Robert  L.  Taylor, 
Judge  C.  S.  Truax, 
President  E.  M.  Vittum,  D.  D., 
Paul  T.  B.  Ward, 
Ernest  B.  Watson, 
Rev.  Lewis  B.  Webber, 
Rev.  Hezekiah  Webster, 
Prof.  E.  W.  Wetmore, 
Prof.  S.  D.  Wilcox, 
Prof.  L.  D.  Woodbridge,  M.  D., 
George  G.  Wright, 
Rev.  George  B.  Young, 


Honesdale,  Penn. 

North  Adams,  Mass. 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Auburn  Theological  Seminary, 

New  York. 
Deceased. 
Red  Oaks,  Iowa. 
Fostoria,  Ohio. 
Deceased. 
Yonkers,  N.  Y. 
Oakland,  Cal. 
Lyons,  N.  Y. 
Samokov,  Bulgaria. 
Deceased. 
Evanston,  111. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Montclair,  N.  J. 
Little  Falls,  N.  Y. 
Constantinople. 
Farmington,  Minn. 
Corning,  N.  Y. 
Deceased. 
Oakland,  Cal. 
Newark,  N.  J. 
Hanover,  N.  H. 
Deceased. 

Fargo  College,  N.  D. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Hanover,  N.  H. 
Brockport,  N.  Y. 
Deceased. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Deceased. 
Deceased. 
Boston,  Mass. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


310 


APPENDIX 

F.     Mb.  Robert's  Requirements  for  Tutors 


The  candidate  should  be  a  man  twenty-two  to  twenty-six  years  of 
age,  of  fervent,  symmetrical  piety,  combined  with  a  missionary  spirit, 
a  willingness  to  do  hard  work,  the  ability  to  work  harmoniously  with 
others  and  one  who  is  not  unyielding,  stiff,  or  one  who  would  be  con- 
scientiously obstinate,  one  who  is  ready  to  do  anything  which  the  good 
of  the  College  requires,  even  to  teaching  the  alphabet,  though  he  may 
be  vers-d  in  the  most  abstruse  parts  of  the  Calculus;  in  short  a  man 
who  wants  to  live  a  Christian  life  and  do  a  Christian  teacher's  work, 
desiring  to  do  good  to  the  souls  of  his  pupils  as  well  as  to  improve 
their  understanding. 

II 

A  good  mind  in  a  sound  body,  with  a  large  share  of  common  sense, 
a  firm  but  mild  temper,  a  warm  heart  readily  sympathizing  with  those 
under  him,  keenness  of  perception  and  a  cool,  unbiased  judgment, 
governing  himself  well  and  able  to  govern  others  so  far  as  practical 
by  love  rather  than  force.   Possessing  gentlemanly  habits  and  feelings. 

Ill 

A  man  of  great  breadth  of  mind,  who  can  take  broad  and  proper 
views  of  education,  not  wedded  to  any  system,  comprehending  the 
purpose  of  education,  knowing  a  great  deal  more  than  he  is  expected 
to  teach. 

IV 

A  thorough  and  systematic  scholar,  not  a  man  who  has  barely  "got 
through  "  college  or  who  has  been  little  above  the  average  of  his  class, 
but  one  who  has  been  among  the  very  first,  a  real  enthusiast  in  learn- 
ing, never  satisfied  with  present  attainments  but  always  pressing  on 
to  farther  acquisitions. 

V 

Apt  to  teach,  with  abihty  and  tact  to  impart  what  he  knows.  An 
enthusiast  in  his  work,  determined  to  make  better  scholars  than  any 
other  teacher  has  ever  done  and  inspiring  them  with  a  love  of  learn- 
ing.  Not  a  man  in  feeble  health  who  wishes  to  "lay  off." 

311 


APPENDIX 

VI 

A  man  who  can  impress  himself  on  his  pupils,  who  can  influence 
them  for  good,  whose  wishes  as  well  as  his  words  shall  be  law  to  them, 
one  who  by  his  own  habits  of  punctuality,  promptness,  system  and 
neatness  shall  teach  as  well  by  his  exemplary  practice  in  all  these  re- 
spects as  by  precept. 

VII 

A  mercenary  person,  or  one  who  would  go  to  make  money,  is  not 
wanted. 


G.     Summary  of  the  Report  of  the  Treasurer  of  Robert 
College  for  1909 


endowment    funds    invested    in    new    YORK 

$243,402.22 
134,080.18 


General  Endowment  Fund     . 
C.  R.  Robert  Endowment  Fund 
Scholarship  Fund 
Lois  Newton  Fund 
Museum  Fund 


Real  estate  and  other  property  in  Constantinople 
The  College  has  no  indebtedness. 


8,000.00 

11,302.50 

5,997.50 

$402,782.40 

392,629.03 

$795,411.43 


312 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aali  Pasha,  11,  45. 

Abd-ul-/Vziz,  Sultan,  10,  105. 

Abd-ul-IIamid,  Sultan,  106, 115, 130, 
153,  170,  246. 

Abd-ul-Medjid,  Sultan,  10. 

Achmet  Vefik  Pasha,  7,  11,  55,  74, 
118,  130. 

Alexander,  Prince  of  Bulgaria,  148, 
183.  189, 

Alumni.  207.  263,  293. 

Anderson,  Professor  Charles,  40, 199. 

Angell,  James  B.,  American  Minis- 
ter, 256. 

Armenians,  70, 76, 152, 200, 219, 237, 
245. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  144. 

Assassination  of  Presidents,  278. 

Athletics.  259. 

Bancroft,  Greorge,  74. 

Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  95. 

Bebec,  14. 

Beneficiaries,  22,  216,  241. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  95.  211. 

Booth.  William  A.,  9. 

Brooks,  Rev.  Arthur,  194. 

Bryce,  James,  168. 

Buildings,  27,  47,  68,  216,  224. 

Bulgaria,  39, 52,  69,  89, 103, 122, 126, 

147,  160,  173,  218. 
Bulwer,  Sir  Henry,  11. 

Censorship,  218. 
Cholera,  18,  53,  231. 
Civil  War  in  Unitetl  States,  9,  20. 
Coe,  David  B..  6,  112. 
C©e,  Edward  B.,  235,  288. 
College  for  Girls,  30. 
Commencements,  26,  40,  48,  62,  98, 
125,  157,  225,  243,  289. 


Conference  of  Constantinople,  116. 
Conflagrations,  19,  42. 
Constitution,  Turkish,  117. 
Cox,  Samuel  S.,  187. 
Cricket  match.  73. 
Currie,  Sir  Philip,  220. 

Development,  64,  67.  96,  141,  254, 

265.  282. 
Dimitroff,  Peter,  63,  151,  181,  2G8. 
Discipline,  25,  36,  46,  57,  70. 
Disraeli    (Lord    Beaconsfield),    109, 

145. 
Djedjizian,  Professor  Hagopos,  26, 

66. 
Dodge,  Cleveland  H.,  266,  288. 
Dodge,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  E., 

241,  288,  291. 
DufTerin,  Lord,  164,  171. 
Dwight,  James  and  William,  3,  4. 
EHyyer,  Professor  John  E.,  308. 

Earthquakes,  135,  231. 

Eastern  Roumelia,  148,  152.  180. 

Egypt,  160,  169,  250. 

Elective  Courses,  97,  223. 

Eliou,  Professor  Louisos,  125,  178. 

Elliott,    Sir    Henry,    89,    104,    108, 

117. 
Endowment,  29,  59,  135,  164,  208. 
England,  11,  89,  116,  132,  200,  220. 

Farragut,  Admiral,  12. 

Ferdinand,  King  of  Bulgaria,   192. 

241. 
Finances.    43,    61,    139,    231,    307, 

312. 
Founder's  Day.  197. 
Forster,  Sir  William  E.,  143. 
Frances,  Sir  Philip.  28. 


315 


INDEX 


Gates,  President  Caleb  Frank,  280,    Midhat  Pasha,  111,  117 


288,  290. 
Geological  Survey,  61. 
Germany,  257. 

Gladstone,  110,  147,  153,  162. 
Grant,  General,  131. 
Granville,  Lord,  168. 
Greece,  250. 
Greek  Patriarch,  272. 
Greeks,  69,  124,  155,  236,  240. 
Griscom,  Lloyd  C,  269. 
Grosvenor,  Professor  Edwin  A.,  65, 

124,  204. 
Gymnasium,  288. 

Hamlin,  President  Cyrus,  6,  8,  14, 
27,  28,  51,  59,  65,  135,  267. 

Hamlin  Hall,  28,  72,  174,  261. 

Hanson,  Charles  S.,  159. 

Haritune,  Steward,  154. 

Hart,  Miss  Meredith,  229. 

Harvard  University,  8,  14. 

Hay,  John,  95. 

Herbert,  Sir  Michael,  249. 

Huntington,  Professor  George  H., 
308. 

Kennedy,  John  Stewart,  195,  235, 

265,  291. 
Kurds,  202. 

Land,  7,  54,  94. 

Layard,  Sir  Henry,  121,  130,  153. 

Leishman,  John  G.  A.,  269,  286. 

Library,  14. 

Local  Board,  16. 

Long,  Professor  Albert  L.,  65,  100, 

122,  135,  147,  158,  179,  275. 
Lookout  Mountain,  21. 
Lybyer,  Professor  Albert  L.,  270. 
Lycee  of  Galata  Serai,  24. 
Lyons,  Lord,  11,  33. 

Macedonia,  276. 

Manning,  Professor  George  L.,  280. 
Massacres,  103,  238,  245. 
Maynard,  Horace,  95,  109,  149. 


Millingen,  Professor  Alexander  van, 

140,  158,  228. 
Missionary  policy,  1,  7. 
Morgan,  George  D.,  12,  34, 
Morris,  E.  Joy,  28,  33. 
Murray,  Professor  George  S.,  280. 
Murray,  Professor  William  S.,  280. 
Music,  228. 

Nationalities,  69,  91,  305. 
Naval  officers  and  vessels,  112, 121, 
149,  203. 

O'Conor,  Sir  Nicholas,  257. 
Organization  of  classes,  43. 
Ormiston,  Professor  William  T.,  180, 

205,  223. 
Ottley,  Dr.  Charles  W.,  280. 

Panaretoff,  Professor  Stephen,  49, 89, 

110,  156,  196. 
Parliament,  First  Turkish,  118.  130. 
ParHament  of  Religions,  222,  229. 
Pears,  Sir  Edwin,  104,  182. 
Perkins,  Professor  George  A.,  14, 18. 
Political  situation,  100,  226. 
Post,  Professor  Bertram  V.,  308. 
Potter,  Bishop,  241. 

Ramsay,  Sir  William,  263. 
Religious  principles,  16,  76,  85,  151, 

295. 
Revolutions,  104,  106,  183,  190. 
Robert,  Christopher  R.,  1,  5,  10,  27, 

29,  43,  91,  137. 
Robert  College,  7,  9,  14,  15,  17,  47, 

93,  107,  124,  168,  247,  293. 
Roumeli  Hissar,  7. 
Rosebery,  Lord,  186,  261. 
Roosevelt,  President,  284. 
Russia,  10,  52,  89, 101,  149, 183,  240. 
Russo-Turkish  War,  120,  127. 

Sabbath  services,  16. 
Salisbury,  Lord,  117,  239. 
Schauffler,  Professor  Henry  A.,  14, 18. 


316 


INDEX 


Schools  in  Turkey,  3. 
Schuyler,  Eugt-iie,  109,  147. 
Seward,  William  II.,  U,  47. 
Sheridan,  General,  45. 
Sherman,  General,  67. 
Skobeleff,  General,  128,  132. 
Spanish  War,  257. 
Stambuloff,  52,  191. 
Stoiloff,  Constantine,  49,  151,  272. 
Straus,  Oscar  S.,  194,  257. 
Syrian  Protestant  College,  24,  43. 

Teaching   of   the   Twelve  Apostles, 

172. 
Terrell,  Alexander  W.,  226. 
Theodoras  Hall,  255,  271,  282. 
Treaty  of  IJerlin,  133. 
Treaty  of  San  Stefano,  131. 


Trustees,  9,  139,  235,  264. 
Turkey,  100,  142,  160,  193,  227,  232, 

285. 
Turkish  neighbors.  71,  120,  134. 
Turkish  opinions  of  the  College,  93, 

227. 
Tutors,  19,  309,  311. 

Wallace,  General  Lew,  169. 
Washburn,  George,  33,  35,  50,  59, 

290. 
Washburn,  Mrs.    George,    73,    267, 

292. 
Washburn  Hall,  291. 
White,  Sir  William,  186,  220. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
221. 


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